


Domme Vala

by gatesmasher



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: BDSM, Bondage, Cock & Ball Torture, Corporal Punishment, Dom/sub, Dubious Consent, F/M, Femdom, Humor, Purple Prose, Romance, Sexual Training, but lots of rewards too, but vala's very convincing, increasingly dangerous levels of fluff as story progresses, reluctant submissive
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-23
Updated: 2014-05-21
Packaged: 2018-01-18 10:34:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 46
Words: 104,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1425367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gatesmasher/pseuds/gatesmasher
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Vala’s had it with Daniel's self-destructive behavior, but when she takes the unwilling man on a voyage of self-discovery, he discovers just as much about her as himself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Non-Incident that was Only an Aberration Anyhow

**Author's Note:**

> So the other day I had a hankering to read some juicy Daniel/Vala BSDM...and I couldn't find any! What the heck? Maybe it's out there and I just couldn't find it, but nevertheless, the following is my solution: if you can't find it, write your own! 
> 
> (Timeline fudging: while I love the Ori as baddies on the show, they're a pain to fit into a fanfic. So this story is a bit AU. The beginning of Season 9 went pretty much the same and the Ori are lurking around, but not as an overwhelming death threat. So no 'Beachhead', no Vala missing-in-action for half a year, no Adria, no Ori armada. Vala's been around the whole time and we pick up the action a couple months after 'Memento Mori.')

Prologue:

Daniel knew it had been a mistake to have reacted to Vala's swat on his butt that day in his office, but that wasn't really under his control, now was it?

However, it was definitely a mistake today to have allowed her to come over to his house, and that had absolutely been under his control.

Now here he was stark naked on the floor of his own living room, effectively immobilized, the bane of his existence standing over him with a smirk on those...lips. Those wide, generous...gorgeous lips--

Nope. No way. Not going there. He wasn't falling for _her_ or her crazy ideas. He was going to get out of this situation. This...awkward, humiliating, insane...situation.

He blinked at the rug and the toes of Vala's black stiletto-heeled shoes one inch from his face.

"Comfortable, darling?"

Damn it. How _was_ he getting out of this?  


###

  
Chapter 1: The Non-Incident that was Only an Aberration Anyhow

The swatting incident had happened months earlier, and while Daniel had never forgotten it, he had discounted it.

It was soon after Vala had tricked him into putting on those ridiculous bracelets. They had essentially tied the two them together, part of the interstellar con-artist’s brilliant plan to force Daniel’s help, on pain of death. The plan backfired of course, and Vala experienced just as much discomfort as Daniel had when they were more than a few dozen yards from one another’s presence. The effects were just starting to wear off, but the irritating woman insisted on hanging around his office, whining and annoying him. Pretty much par for the course.

Daniel stood at his worktable, making notes on a pseudo-Akkadian tablet. It lay like a stone jigsaw puzzle, the several pieces painstakingly fitted back into their original unbroken form, the god Enlil carved into the ancient grey slab. Vala, refusing to acknowledge personal space limits, lay on her stomach on the large table, leafing through what appeared to be a fashion magazine and kicking her feet back and forth in the air.

Vala turned a magazine page then glanced up, an errant curl from her black hair falling into one of her bright slate-grey eyes. "Daniel, do you happen to have one of these...credit cards?"

Daniel didn't look up from his work. "Yes I do, and no you can't."

Vala grunted in disappointment then glanced toward the door. "By the way, is the security escort still necessary?"

"Do you really have to ask?"

Rolling off the work surface and standing up, Vala strolled around the table, idly rolling up the magazine as she went. "I notice you've assigned a woman. Were you afraid that I might corrupt one of your impressionable young men?"

And as she passed Daniel, she hit him on the butt with the rolled up magazine. Completely caught off guard, he flinched at the sudden sting.

Then came the reaction. _That_ reaction.

 _Why_ , he had no idea, but his cock throbbed to attention so fast his vision all but greyed out. He held himself still, actually managing to grate something out about saving someone the trouble of having to rebuff her advances.

The alien woman made a show of winking at the middle-aged female SF, who, unlike Daniel, managed to ignore Vala's sex-kitten act quite handily.

Vala rounded Daniel as she sauntered, her skintight black tank-top and slacks contrasting with the innocent pigtails that bound her black hair. Daniel found his cock tightening up even more at her proximity, his mind racing in panic. She still held the rolled magazine. Would she smack him again? God, what if she noticed his reaction? He swiveled his groin, angling it towards the table, everything from the waist down dying for Vala to notice, hell, everything from the neck down. Only his head screamed at him to stop this ridiculous reaction. A smack to the butt making him hard? He didn't do that, he didn't like stuff like that. It wasn't proper or dignified and it certainly didn't fit his view of himself.

Still talking, Vala's voice was a frustrated whine: "I'm so bored! What do you do around here for fun?"

Okay, good, this was doable, she hadn't noticed.

"I'm doing it," he said, keeping his voice level through sheer force of will. "I'm translating these artifacts from P4S-559."

"Oh. Are they valuable?"

He took a breath, forcing his willful cock to behave. It was just--just that he hadn't allowed himself any...enjoyment in a while. Sexual enjoyment, that was. Well, actually in any kind of enjoyment whatsoever, but that was neither here nor there.

"Well their historical value is immense," he said. "But there's no gold or jewels involved, if that's what you mean."

"Oh."

And he wouldn't be enjoying himself, not now and not any time soon, not in any way at all. There was no room for those kinds of feeling in his life, not any more. He had tamped himself down for years now, crushing any feelings until nothing was left, nothing but work. That was all there was, all he needed, all he could allow himself.

Vala moved one of the pieces of stone-tablet puzzle, nudging it with a delicate manicured finger.

" _Don't_ touch that!"

She came up to him, arms akimbo. "Do you know what?" she demanded. "You need to occasionally get out from under the dust of dead civilizations and live a little. Why don't you take me out to dinner?"

But he was under control again now, her proximity no long a threat. She was wrong, he didn't need to get out from under his work, he needed to immerse himself deeper. He moved away from her to a shelf to get a piece of parchment, proud of how quickly he had controlled himself. "Look, you're not getting off this base any time soon."

"Why don't we go off world? I've got a great little deal cooked up with some traders on Katana."

Daniel returned to the table looking at the parchment. "No."

"We could be partners. We can split everything down the middle, sixty-forty."

He rolled his eyes and the conversation devolved from there, Vala trying to pretend the whole 'cuffing them together' thing wasn't her fault. As if. She had cost him Atlantis. A whole city, pristine, white, calm, clean, where he could bury himself in work and never come up again.

And that was the end of the Matter of the Rolled Up Magazine. Hardly a 'matter' at all. Just an...aberration. Yes, an aberration. In time, the bracelets' effect wore off and the two of them could survive being more than a few yards apart. However, aberration or not, Vala's effect on him only seemed to grow. She was the most distracting, aggravating, annoying, exasperating-- Somehow she knew exactly how to get in his way and under his skin.

Taking her out to dinner had been a terrible misjudgment on his part, and not just because Athena kidnapped her. It wasn't a date. It absolutely was not. Why the hell did he take her to Il Fiero instead of O'Malley's anyhow? He wouldn't make that mistake again.

So, yes, he was happy he got her back--um, the _SGC_ got her back again after the kidnapping, happy she was safe, happy to have been instrumental in convincing her to stop running. After all, it was he himself who, in a moment of weakness, convinced General Landry to trust her. But having her on the team didn't really help the problem of her distracting...ness. Great, now he was making up words.

Avoidance was the best method, pretty much the only method left to him at this point. Mitchell insisted on team nights and Daniel didn't want to undermine the brash young commander, but there were only so many movies and so much bowling he could stand. He began to bow out more and more often these days, claiming too much work, so of course he had to actually be _doing_ the work, therefore spending more and more time in his office until being off-world was almost the only time he wasn't there.

This was his life. It was calm and controlled, he liked it that way, and nothing was going to change it.


	2. Coming In Hot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vala’s had it with Daniel self-destructive behavior, but when she takes the unwilling man on a voyage of self-discovery, he discovers just as much about her as himself.

"Close the iris! Close it now!"

SG-1 dashed through the Stargate and down the SGC's ramp, Mitchell bellowing as he brought up the rear, all of them ducking as a barrage of fiery blue laser bolts chased them through the shimmering wormhole.

Daniel wrenched his P-90 tether off even as the last bolt sizzled and blistered the concrete Gate room wall, slinging the weapon abruptly at a nearby guard who barely managed to catch it in time. Another Lucian Alliance reconnaissance mission gone wrong. When the hell had being on SG-1 meant playing intergalactic policeman? The Goa'uld were a fading problem; now should have been a time of research and exploration, a renaissance of knowledge and advancement. But...then there was Ba'al, not a fading problem by any measure. There was the aforementioned Lucian Alliance and their poisoned addictive kassa grain. And then there were the Ori, who had made significant inroads on a few worlds in the Milky Way.

The debrief was short and to the point, Daniel doing little more than to sit and massage his temples, letting the others, mainly Mitchell and Sam, talk to General Landry. Two months ago SG-16 had come back from a mission deep in Lucian territory with rumors of a non-addictive hybrid of kassa, a hybrid that could conceivably dominate and supplant the dangerous grain the Lucian's promoted if the SGC could only find it. For several missions in a row now SG-1 had tried to track the whereabouts of the elusive, and possibly nonexistent, grain, to no avail. Today's outing was especially galling: the Lucian leader Netan had unexpectedly come to the warehouse they'd infiltrated, forcing the five teammates to hide in a tiny storage room reeking of fresh fertilizer. Daniel, in his efforts to avoid standing next to Vala, had gone so far as to crouch on the smelliest bag in the room.

And of course their trip back to the Gate hadn't gone unnoticed by the Lucian guards. Hence the whole laser bolts chasing them through the Gate thing.

"I think there's something there, sir," Mitchell concluded. "Netan wouldn't have bothered touring some backwater planet if there was nothing to it. We need to do a follow-up mission, hopefully when our timing's a little better."

Daniel suppressed a groan. Great, more prowling around alien grain silos. Just what he'd been thinking of when he completed his final doctoral thesis.

General Landry glanced at Daniel as he said, "SG-1, you've taken on these last few missions in fast succession. You've done a commendable job, but you're stressed and tired. The follow-up mission can wait. Consider yourself ordered off base: I'm putting all of you on a week's downtime, to recover a little--"

Shooting up from his slouch like an incensed jack-in-the-box, Daniel snapped, "I have twenty-one pages of Andaran protocol to translate for SG-12!"

" _All_ of you."

"But they need me to--!"

"I'm sure someone else in your department can handle it, Doctor."

Daniel snapped his folder shut, got up and stalked out of the briefing without another word.

What did being tired have to do with sitting in his office working on a translation? That wasn't tiring. Fine, it was early Sunday afternoon right now. He would go home, remain scarce tomorrow morning, and then go in around noon. No one would notice. Let Landry try to oust him from his office. Once Daniel's work started to show up in other SG team-leaders' in-boxes the General wouldn't dare complain. They demanded results, complained when he didn't deliver, but also complained when he supposedly overworked himself. Well, with Janet gone, and Jack gone to Washington, he doubted anyone would notice his 'overworking,' just the results.

In his office, he organized the work on his desk, preparing it for his return on Monday. He decided there was no use wasting this evening, so he tried to email himself the protocol work, ending up calling the base's IT department when the attachment bounced back. As he waited on hold for someone in authority, he found himself glancing at the doorway, half-expecting Vala to slink in, demanding he take her off on a trip to God-knew-where over the coming week. He spared a thought of mild disappointment-- um, _surprise_ that she wasn't bothering him, then dismissed the entire matter.

Five minutes later Sam and Mitchell came in to find him deep in argument with IT. "Yes, I heard you, Major,” Daniel was saying with exaggerated patience. “Security is set up to discourage the accidental release of classified material. That's why I'm calling you. I want you to change the setting in this case." He paused as the man prattled a series of excuses while Sam and Mitchell exchanged unreadable glances. "Major, my home account is secured by the same system as the base's. You should know, you set it up for me." He listened again, headache blossoming anew. "Well, I don't know," he responded sarcastically, "maybe you could do it because I'm a department head?" He listened one more second before slamming the phone down in disgust. "Self-important martinet," he muttered.

"You were trying to email classified documents to your private account?" Sam asked.

"That was the idea, yes."

"Daniel, you know that all SGC documents are coded to block transfer."

"Yes, Sam, I do know that," Daniel observed with commendable patience. "I just had this crazy idea that maybe I could be allowed to do my job despite the interference of power-hungry newcomers."

Another exchanged glance and Sam said, "They wouldn't change the rules for anyone, not you, not me, not even General Landry."

He muttered his opinion of the possible convergence of a printout of the rules and the good general, but he spoke in gutter Latin to spare the two excessively loyal Air Force officers’ sensibilities. Stuffing what hard copies he had into his briefcase --just let them try to search him at the exit checkpoint-- he aimed what passed for a cheerful look these days at his teammates. "So any idea when we get to go back and play grain inspectors?"

"Daniel, I know it's not glamorous, but--"

"Glamorous?" he demanded. As if he cared about glamor. Did Sam even know him at all?

"I mean-- I didn't mean it that way," she stammered, flustered. "I just mean we're saving potentially tens of thousands of lives."

He stared at her with mock-surprise. "Really? We're saving lives? I didn't know that."

Sam's smile turned brittle as Mitchell stepped in. "Whoa! Okay there, let's just agree that our jobs are important but we need a little vay-cay, right?"

Daniel rewarded him with a stony stare before grabbing a Goa'uld lexicon marked 'Highly Sensitive Material - Do Not Remove From Base Premises' and jamming it in his bag; well, he wrote the damn thing after all. He could remove it if he damn well pleased.

"Little vacation never hurts, right?" Mitchell stuck his hands in his pockets. "So I was thinking maybe we could do lunch right now."

"No thanks," Daniel said shortly, not even trying to come up with an excuse.

Undeterred, the young commander ventured, "Maybe we could even get away together somewhere."

Daniel looked at him like he was crazy. Which he must be to even think Daniel would consider such a thing. "No thanks," he repeated a bit louder.

Incredibly, probably to cover his embarrassment, Mitchell kept talking. "Teal'c's thinking of going to Dakara."

"Of course he is," Daniel said, scanning his worktop for anything else he might need.

"What does that mean?" Sam asked sharply.

"Nothing." Teal'c always went running when the Jaffa Council called for him.

Daniel very deliberately did not ask after Vala's whereabouts or plans and the conversation soon died an awkward death, Daniel barely paying attention when his two teammates left. They might have been wearing concerned expressions, though Daniel couldn't imagine what they could be concerned about regarding himself; it was everyone else who had a problem.

He soon finished up his packing and, still aggrieved at the time he was being forced to waste, left the Mountain. It'd been awhile since he'd been home and he doubted anything particularly edible still sat in his refrigerator, but he decided not to bother braving the winter chill to swing by the grocery store. He had some power bars, that would be good enough to see him through to tomorrow.

Late afternoon found him in his living room sorting through week-old mail; there was nothing of real interest, his bills were either debited directly from his bank account or paid by his accountant. Once this boring stuff was out of the way he would get back to his translations. Immerse himself in the written word, the calm, clear-cut world of grammar, morphology, syntax, phonology. These things may change over the centuries, but always logically, rationally. These puzzles always had solutions, unlike other things, other...people.

Daniel sat in the silence of his living room, sipping his coffee and looking forward to an uneventful day.


	3. ...And Hotter

Uneventful until a knock came at his door. Irritated at the interruption -probably someone selling cookies or religion- Daniel set his coffee cup aside and padded with stocking feet over to the door. When he opened it his mind stuttered to a halt over the contrast he found on his porch: in the background lay his nondescript suburban neighborhood, the snowy street unremarkable in the weak sunlight of a sleepy Sunday afternoon; and in the foreground, very remarkable indeed, stood Vala.

She wore a simple sheath dress, but its effect was anything but simple: the close-fitting dark green fabric highlighted her every curve, making Vala's fully clothed body seem somehow indecently exposed. The hem fell just below her knees, the smooth lines of her calves set off by black stiletto-heeled pumps. The high neckline cut a straight horizontal line at the hollow of her throat. The dress was sleeveless, but a pair of long black gloves covered her arms, loops for her thumbs leaving her fingers free. Her hair was up in a wide coiffure that looked like a crown, a few silver-streaked locks falling down to frame her face.

"Hello, darling!” Vala said, face splitting into a happy grin. “Miss me?"

Daniel stared some more, details starting to register, like the two suitcases on the snow-blown porch beside her and the young Airman hovering in the background with a bulky cardboard box and a look of red-faced bashfulness.

Vala placed hand to hip, tilting her head in bemusement. "Are you going to invite me in?"

"What--? Why are you here?"

"I'm paying you a visit, Daniel."

"With suitcases?"

"I may need a few things."

The three of them stood and stared a few seconds more in an awkward tableau until Daniel couldn't stand the embarrassed Airman's fidgeting any longer. "Fine. Come in."

"So gracious. Thank you, Daniel." Vala picked up the suitcases, depositing them in Daniel's hands as she swept past him into the living room. She directed the Airman to place the cardboard box by the coffee table and he scurried away immediately afterward, face redder than ever. The sound of the Air Force sedan starting up and peeling away down the street spurred Daniel into action and he kicked the door shut behind him, passing from the foyer into the living room where Vala stood gazing around the room speculatively.

"What a lovely home, Daniel," she said.

Daniel analyzed the comment for hidden insults, found none, and finally deigned to grunt a response, dumping the suitcases on the floor. "So..."

"Thank you again for inviting me here."

Inviting her? Being too polite to leave her standing on the porch, more like. "Right."

"I've always wondered what your home looked like."

That's right, she'd never been here. He hadn't hosted a team night in...awhile. "You can stay for a couple hours, then I'll call someone to pick you up."

"Why don't you want me to stay?"

"You have to ask?"

"Yes, that's what I just did, ask. Why don’t you want me to stay?"

They stood there, Vala's body language relaxed and easy, Daniel stiff with tension.

"You know why," he gritted out finally.

Vala merely raised a brow.

Without his shoes on, the alien woman towered a good three inches over him in her heels, and for some reason this irritated him all the more, but he made a conscious effort to relax. He should probably play the good host and offer coffee...but then she might accept it and have a reason to stay. The less trouble the better. Whatever, she could do what she wanted as long as she didn't disturb him.

"Well, make yourself at home," Daniel offered, not bothering to keep the sarcasm out of his voice. He sat back down on the couch, pointedly going back to what he'd been doing. He gathered his mail into a pile and finished off his cold coffee in one gulp.

"Why, thank you, darling, I will." Vala had gone to the back of the room, peering through the sheers there which covered tall double-paned windows and French doors. The translucent drapes let in daylight while obscuring the frosty lawn and hedges of Daniel's small private backyard.

Turning from the windows, Vala took her time sauntering about the living room, hips swinging and stiletto heels clicking against the parquet wood floor as she went. It wasn't a long tour, there wasn't much there although the room was fairly large. A fireplace (never used) in the right hand corner opposite the foyer. An entertainment unit (rarely used) along one wall faced a coffee table (constantly used) with couch (currently in use) and armchair sitting on a rug in the center of the room. A baby grand piano (last used...Daniel couldn't remember) sat shoved against the wall behind the couch.

Watching her, Daniel frowned. Vala was...wrong here. Too colorful, too loud, too... _real_ for the quiet and bookish space of his house.

Vala ran a finger across the closed lid of the piano's keys, her red nail polish contrasting sharply with the dark varnished wood. "So dusty," she remarked with disapproval. "How often do you play?"

"Never."

"Why not?"

"I just-- It's not tuned."

"So tune it."

He grit his teeth again, ignoring her as he tidied his already tidy stack of mail.

She went to the entertainment hutch next, gathering another fingertip-full of dust. "Does the stereo need tuning, too?"

He stacked the envelopes vigorously, rapping them edge-on against the tabletop. It was too much trouble to play music, the CD's always needed changing. Silence was perfectly fine.

The cushion bounced as Vala took a seat near him on the couch. Damn it, why had he sat back down here? He should've sat on the armchair instead. He shifted as unobtrusively as possible, edging a couple inches away from the fresh scent and body heat of his unwelcome visitor.

Vala leaned back, crossing her legs. "Hmm. 'I know why' you said," she drawled. "A guessing game?"

Why he didn't want her here, she meant. Daniel rolled his eyes. As if she didn't know.

"Is it because of what happened awhile back? I saw your reaction the day, by the way."

"Hmm?" He put a rubber band around his stack, readying it to be placed in his filing cabinet, nice and neat. "Reaction? To what? What are you talking about?"

"When I spanked your bottom that day in your office and you got hard as a rock."

Daniel's head shot up and, mouth hanging open, he stared at her blankly. "...I... What!?"

Vala arched a dark brow, stretching sleekly as she placed one arm on the back of the couch and one on the armrest.

"I--I didn't!" Daniel stammered. "I didn't _react_! That's ridiculous."

"Why are you trying to deny something we both know, Daniel?"

That pulled the wind out of his sails mid-bluster. Vala rarely used that reasonable tone. It was usually him playing the adult and her the spoiled child. He took a calming breath. "Okay. I admit a certain...physiological reaction. That's--that's understandable. Normal."

"Yes, it is normal."

He nodded. "Right."

"Normal for a sexual submissive."

"What!?"

"Do you need me to repeat it, darling?" Vala asked, glancing over at him as she adjusted the fit of her gloves.

"No!" he all but shouted. "And you're wrong. I'm not...that. My reaction was normal for--for anyone."

"No," she said, drawing out the word with a knowing smile. "'Normal' for other people would be ignoring the swat, laughing it off, getting angry. Those reactions would be normal for most other kinds of people. Getting aroused, however, is normal for a sexual submissive."

He pursed his lips. "Okay, look. I'm not going to get angry--"

"Good decision."

"But whatever game you're trying to play here isn't going to work," he concluded firmly. And it wasn't going to work. Because it wasn't true.

Smile still in place, she said, "But I brought along something to help you. I bought it over the computer-net with my first paycheck," she added proudly.

She half-climbed over the coffee table, Daniel steadfastly looking away from the prominent display this made of her butt. She pulled the long cardboard box the Airman had brought in closer, then pried it open and retrieved a wooden...thing, sitting back down and holding it up for him to see.

Looking almost like a bow with short cords hanging from each end, the thing consisted of two parallel lengths of polished cherry wood. It had three gentle curves: two larger symmetrical wings on each end and a shorter, deeper curve in the opposite direction in the middle. There were various hinges holding the two lengths together and they were flush with the exception of a smallish hole formed in the center of the middle curve.

Daniel had no intention of using this thing, whatever it was, but he was curious. "What is it, some kind of exercise equipment?"

"That's funny, that's what the men who the General has snoop in my mail said."

"So," he prompted. "What is it?"

"Oh! Sorry, the most important part is still in the box." She released two clasps, opening the assemblage along its hinges until it looked rather like a large wavy wooden mouth. Her hands full, she nodded back toward the box. "Take a look."

The box still sat out of sight on the other side of the coffee table, and, curiosity getting the better of him, Daniel leaned forward, partially rising as he peered--

The next thing he knew the table had rushed up to meet him. Or had he been pushed down? Daniel was never sure exactly how it happened but as he leaned over the table, Vala sprang up beside him and in a sequence of events too sudden and confusing for him to process, he found himself face down on the coffee table with Vala on top of him. He was pinned like a bug on display, one hand trapped under his chest, the other trapped by Vala, his lower body hanging off the edge of the table.


	4. Why Vala Shouldn’t Be Allowed to Make Purchases on the Internet

"Vala!" Daniel gasped. "What...?"

"Relax, darling, it's all well in hand now."

Vala had wrenched his arm up behind his back, his hand lay palm up, pinned there fast and tight by what felt like the woman's knee. It certainly wasn't her hands, those were busy elsewhere...at the zipper of his jeans?

"Vala! What the hell?" He began to struggle in earnest, trying to buck her off, but her hold was too tight.

"Don't struggle, Daniel, you'll just injure yourself."

"Injure _myself_?!" The more he wiggled, the more she bore down from her position crouching on top of him. Vala was no lightweight. Driving her bony knee straight into the nerves of his open palm, the pain radiated up his arm to join the pain radiating down from his twisted shoulder. With his other arm trapped under his chest he couldn't get any leverage. He tried to kick off using the couch behind him but it just slid along the smooth floor.

By now she had opened the fly of his jeans, and in one stunning and humiliating move, pushed both jeans and boxers down to his knees.

" _Fu_ \--!" He broke off the obscenity with a yelp at the sharp swat delivered to his now totally bare rear end.

"Daniel!" Vala scolded. "Fair warning. I do not tolerate that kind of language."

If his face wasn't already red with the effort of his struggles, he would've gone scarlet with shame. In this position, jeans and boxers tangling his legs, his butt was completely exposed and defenseless.

He'd always loved the privacy the lack of front windows brought the living room, the little foyer lit by translucent glass blocks framing the entry door. But now he was torn between being glad there were no witnesses his humiliation and wishing someone could see his predicament and call the police.

"Now, I'm afraid I was lying when I said the most important thing was in the box," Vala said conversationally.

With his limited view along the coffee table, he saw her pick up the wooden assemblage again, widening its gaping mouth to the limits of its hinges and lifting it higher out of his sight.

"The most important thing is actually right here between your legs."

And she grabbed him by the balls.

Bent at a right angle as he was, there was nothing stopping her. And quite frankly, there's not much struggling a man can do when he's been grabbed by the balls.

"Va _la_ \--!" he all but shrieked, his voice pitched embarrassingly high.

"Well, _two_ things technically I suppose," she amended with an audible smirk. She tugged his testicles back, and back, Daniel's breath coming in distressed gasps. He felt the warm polished surface of the wooden device pressed against the backs of his upper thighs, the seat of his butt.

"This is called a Humbler," Vala explained with matter-of-fact calm to the stunned man. "It's kind of like a stock, what those silly old Pilgrims used when they decided someone needed a timeout." With a last tug that had Daniel's eyes watering even as it froze him in panic, Vala placed his ball sac into the little niche he'd noticed earlier. "But in this case it's your testicles that need a timeout."

Then came a snap and he couldn't stop a little squeak of shock and dismay.

His balls were captured and locked in place. He felt as much as heard Vala snap the clasps in place. She fiddled with the straps that had hung from the wooden bar's ends, wrapping the cord around his left thigh, but he barely noticed, a rage building up in him.

"Now, darling, I know you've probably got a few questions--"

"Vala!!"

"As well as being a bit miffed--"

" _Goddamn it_!!"

"Don't squirm so, dear, I don't want to pinch. Accidentally at least." She bent over to his right side, looping the strap on that side around his thigh and securing it.

"Okay, Vala, very funny," he ground out, barely able to speak coherently in his anger. "You proved you can get the drop on me and tie me up. Let me go now before I really get mad."

"Oh, I think you're mad right now, darling."

"Vala!"

"I'm getting off your poor hand now, Daniel. Take it slow and let me massage your arm."

As much as he would've loved to have used the opportunity to grab her, his arm really was aching. She eased off him gently, soothing his cramped muscles with a double handed massage as she untwisted his arm. "Better?"

"Yes, Vala, ever so much better," he gritted out. "Now take this damn thing off!"

"Good idea, we need to take your clothes all the way off."

"Take--! You are not stripping me, damn it!"

"And yet you stripped me on the Prometheus."

"I--I didn't--!" He stopped his struggling for a second. "I thought we'd been over this! I didn't do that vindictively, you kidnapped me! I had to defend myself and win back the ship!"

"Yes, darling, there's no hard feelings, I do understand. Now it's your turn to understand. I'll get your jeans and you get your shirt."

"Vala, you need to stop this right now." God, he'd negotiated with aliens on over a dozen worlds over the years, why did this one woman give him so much trouble?

"I'm waiting, Daniel."

"If you think I'm cooperating with my own assault, you're crazier than I thought!"

"Assault!" She snorted with derision. "Really, darling, so dramatic. Well, let's see if I can convince you."

Crouching down at his rear, she reached between his legs and grasped his dangling penis with casual ease, and he jumped as if at an electric shock. "Oh, very nice, Daniel, just like I imagined. Feels like velvet."

He tried to rear up, put his hands on the table, ready to buck back at her, when she gave his cock a deliberate if delicate twist, stating, "Your choice, Daniel. But I believe you're at a bit of a disadvantage."

He cut off with a gasp, sagging back down onto the table.

"Good boy."

And when she started to tug at his jeans, he awkwardly squirmed on his belly, working his t-shirt up and off his head, leaving only his undershirt. Vala, one hand still in firm possession of his cock, had scooted his jeans down and off his feet. As she started on his boxers, she said, "Hmm, nice top-tank, darling. Too bad I need you nude..."

It was a white _tank top_ he'd liberated from the SGC and if _she_ liked it, he was just as happy to be rid of it. As he popped it off his head and threw it angrily on the floor to join the t-shirt, Vala had finished working his boxers and socks off. She gave his cock a little goodbye squeeze and stood up, walking out from between the couch and coffee table. She stood arms akimbo, surveying him with satisfaction. "So far so good, yes? That wasn't as hard as I thought."

His rage bloomed anew and he squirmed, reaching back to figure out how to release the damn contraption, trying to get his feet under him. His struggles took him to one end of the table and just as Vala warned, "Be careful, dear, you're--" he toppled off and onto the rug.

He landed on his side with a grunt and a flutter of displaced mail. Fine. Just as well. With the table out of the way it might be easier-- He got his knees under him, straightening, intending to put one hand on the table and lever himself up-- And doubled back over with a cry.

"Ouch, Daniel. Do be careful."

With the vicious thing locking his balls back behind his legs, any attempt to straighten up, much less stand, was pure agony, his stretched flesh sending bolts of fiery pain throughout his groin.

Biting his lip he lay on his side, reaching blindly down, trying to find a release, running his fingers desperately along the thing's sealed lips. He could feel the clasps, but it wouldn't release, it seemed to be locked...

"Sorry, Daniel." He looked over to see Vala standing with a smirk, dangling a little golden key from a necklace. "Only I decide when and if that's coming off."

With a frustrated grunt, he tugged at the straps around his thighs, if he could get them off he could probably swivel the thing around and slip it up and through his legs; it would still be fastened on his balls, but at least he could stand. But the straps wouldn't budge. They seemed to be threaded through the locked clasps.

It was hopeless and his squirming got more desperate. Even curled up on his side, it still hurt, the thing knocking against the floor, his testicles pulled far back from where they would normally rest. He paused for breath, panting, at an impasse.

Vala walked up to him. "Comfortable, darling?"

"No, Vala, amazingly enough, I'm not comfortable," he explained to her stiletto pumps with mock patience.

"That's because you need to be on your knees. That's really the only comfortable position and the whole point to it." She paused as if giving it intent thought, then observed brightly, "Maybe that's why they call it a Humbler!"

"Vala, if you don't get me out of this, _right now,_ I'll--I'll..."

"You'll what, darling?" She sounded honestly curious.

"I'll make sure you're kicked off of Earth for good!"

"Fair enough. When we're finished, if you still feel the same, you're of course free to do anything you like."

"Oh, I'll still feel the same, all right."

She shrugged with that same infuriatingly smug smirk.

"Look, I'm being very patient with you..."

"Yes, you are, darling, and I do appreciate it. Oh!" She bent down and picked up his glasses where they had fallen off during his struggles. "This is good. I was afraid I might break them. That would've been unfortunate as well as unprofessional."

"Damn it, Vala, after everything I've done for you? This is the payment I get?"

She gave him an inexplicably soft and pleased smile. "Yes, Daniel, it is. And you're welcome."

He closed his eyes in frustration.

"You helped me remember myself again after the Athena kidnapping," she said, as if that explained anything. "I had a gun on you and if you hadn't put your life in danger I would've run off and never come back. You gave me back my future, Daniel, a better future, and now I'm returning the same favor to you."

"Favor? You call this a favor? You can't just hogtie me and expect to get away with it!"

"Oh, this isn't a hogtie, darling," she assured him mildly. "Don't worry, by the end of the week, you'll know the names of quite a few different knots and positions."

"The end of the--!"

"Yes, that reminds me, I need to turn up the heat. Being nude for a week, you'll be sure to get chilly." She went to the thermostat on the wall.

He ran his fingers over the Humbler again, desperate. Yes, she'd been dressed like an S&M wet dream when she'd shown up at the SGC, but he hadn't taken that seriously. He should have.

"Daniel, I told you, you need to get on your knees," Vala said when she returned. "I don't want you injuring your poor testicles. Not when I have so many plans for them."

His anger crested again. "You _bitch_!" He renewed his useless struggling, sending more bolts of pain through his groin, too angry to care at this point. "You are not the boss of me, _goddamn it_!"

A scalding spank to his ass brought him up sharp, yelping as his movements froze instantly.

Vala leaned over him, her gray eyes dark, stern and serious in a way he had never seen before. "Yes, I am the boss of you," she stated with quiet authority. "Now get on your knees."


	5. Qedesha Vala Explains the Rules

  
  
Butt stinging and balls aching, Daniel found himself obeying without conscious thought, rolling clumsily to his hands and knees.  
  
"Curl your legs more. Draw them up. That's right. Now down on your elbows. Good boy."  
  
The ache faded to a background throb and he crouched there panting.  
  
Vala pulled two cushions off the couch, piled them up and sat down, smoothing her dress and curling her legs comfortably to one side. Back straight, hands clasped in her lap, she looked almost...regal as she sat there, gazing at him.  
  
Elbows on the rug, in order to look her in the eye he had to arch his back, peering up at her from the floor, prostrate like a petitioner before royalty.  
  
Something stirred in him, as he knelt at her feet. She was so...remote, her beauty lofty like a queen's, and her slight smile was almost kind, not a sneer at all. His groin began to throb in an entirely different way and he could only stare at her, blinking in confusion.  
  
No, it was just because he was naked and she was beautiful... Yes, he could admit she was beautiful, it was just a statement of fact, it didn't mean anything. That's why his body reacted this way. The one saving grace of this humiliating position was that his groin was entirely hidden from her.  
  
"Let me remind you again," Vala said, "that I won't tolerate foul language. Nor will I tolerate insults."  
  
He should've told her to go to hell, but somehow he found himself dropping his eyes over the name calling he'd just indulged in.  
  
"On my home planet, when I was young, just beyond my teenage years, I went to the city of Qadesh and trained to be what we called a qedesha."  
  
Daniel shook his head in confusion, mental gears grinding at the sudden history lesson. Eyes still staring at the rug, he asked, "A qedesha?" This was an ancient term for what later, more prudish peoples called a temple prostitute: a holy woman who engaged in sexual rituals of religious worship, usually fertility rites of some kind or another.  
  
"The qedesha were priests?" Daniel asked.  
  
"That may be overstating it..."  
  
"Clergy?"  
  
"A bit generic, but yes, close enough. And there was certainly no money involved, as some descriptions I've read imply." Vala gave a disapproving sniff. "Another term was hiero-odigo."  
  
"A temple guide?"  
  
"Yes, a sacred Guide or teacher. Oh, the City was a vibrant place back then, Daniel, you would have loved it. So different from my little village." Her voice warmed at what were obviously happy memories and for a brief moment Daniel forgot all about his predicament and imagined a young twenty-year-old Vala wandering through a big white-stone city, grey eyes bright with excitement.  
  
"The Temple of the Stars of Heaven was the center of city life, the qedesha in constant demand overseeing holidays and festivals, ministering to the needy. Orgasm was considered sacred, the closest you could get the Goddess. And still be alive, at least," she added dryly.  
  
Sacred sexual ecstasy, yes, Daniel knew of this from his studies. He shifted in place, nervous as to where Vala was going with this.  
  
"To better serve the Goddess, the qedesha worked as sexual Guides to help others to discover and accept their true natures. I am sexual Dominant," Vala stated. "I was trained to Guide sexual submissives to recognize and embrace their place in life."  
  
Daniel's eyes shot up, narrowing as the rage slammed through him once again. Though gritted teeth he asked, "And what, pray tell, does that have to do with me?"  
  
Vala gave a sparkling grin and, echoing his earlier question, innocently said, "You have to ask?"  
  
He shook his head. "No. No way. You are fu--!" He stopped himself in time, finishing firmly, "You are _wrong_."  
  
"Darling, I've come to realize you are very definitely a sexual submissive and I am here this week to oversee your voyage to acceptance of this fact."  
  
"You--! You think--! That I--!?" He sputtered incoherently as she continued sit with regal self-assurance. He took a breath, trying to speak rationally. "Oh, so you're _Guiding_ me. Right."  
  
"Yes, that's its official designation, but we Doms usually referred to it informally as Taming."  
  
"What!? Taming!? _You_ taming _me_!? And I thought you were a fruitcake before!"  
  
She merely smiled indulgently, which just served to set him off more.  
  
"I am not _submissive_!" He spat the word out as if it tasted bad. "Not in any way!"  
  
"Then why did you get hard when I smacked you in your office that day?"  
  
"I told you, that was just a physiological reaction."  
  
"Then why did you get hard just now when you knelt before me?"  
  
Daniel's mouth worked but nothing coming out.  
  
"Remember, darling, that being a sexual submissive doesn't mean you're submissive in the public and professional areas of your life. It doesn't mean you're weak and it doesn't mean you're stupid."  
  
He could only shake his head wordlessly.  
  
She reached out to cup his cheek, the leather of her glove as soft as her skin, her smile kind. "Darling, you can't hide, not now. And you don't need to. Not anymore and not from me." As if it were now a settled matter, she shifted comfortably on the pillows, adjusting the lay of her dress's hem. "Now, as I said, for this coming week I will using our vacation time to train you to accept and embrace your submissive nature. I am taking control of your person and introducing you to a new kind of sexuality."  
  
He frowned, shrinking down in his crouch.  
  
"I know that sounds scary to you. We will be doing a number things of a sexual nature."  
  
That sounded like--  
  
"I'm not Hathor, Daniel," she stated quietly, as if reading his mind. "I will not rape you. I won't do what she did. In fact, I won't be pleasuring myself at all, but pleasuring you. I _will_ be bringing you to sexual climax, but in these circumstances I do not consider that rape."  
  
Finally finding his voice, he said, "Oh, how nice for you. What if I do?"  
  
"Then you can bring me up on criminal charges at the end of the week."  
  
Stammering with a mixture of fear and anger, he asked, "So--so you're--you're _training_ me to be what, a _sex slave_?"  
  
If he was expecting defensive denial, he was disappointed. She merely raised an unimpressed brow. "If that's what you want and need, but I don't believe it is. However, if you feel that's what you'd like to explore at the end of the week, we will discuss it at that time."  
  
"You're certifiable. You can't just come in here and do something like this."  
  
"I already am," she observed calmly. "Daniel, you can trust me to--"  
  
"I _don't_ trust you!"  
  
She nodded, as if unsurprised by his words. "I know, darling," she said a little sadly. "I'm going to have an uphill battle. Let me give you my promises, Daniel."  
  
As if he could trust the con artist to keep a promise.  
  
She took a breath, holding up her elegant red-nailed fingers to count. "I will not injure you. I will not steal from you. I will not interfere with any of your personal objects. I will not tell anyone what we do here. I will not invite anyone else here. I will not leave you alone."  
  
That was...fairly reassuring, not that he would ever admit it. "Actually, I would prefer you _did_ leave me alone," he remarked. "I'd prefer you left, period."  
  
Another infuriatingly indulgent smile. "And lastly, I promise that the only reason I'm here is to _help_ you."  
  
He stared at her in frank incredulity, too amazed at the boldfaced lie to even react.  
  
"I know I haven't given you much reason to trust me."  
  
How could he? After all the trouble she'd caused him, the hijacking of the Prometheus, the bracelets that cost him Atlantis. That's what Vala was all about: harassment, snide insults, the belittlement of his work.  
  
"I misjudged you at first, I admit that," she said. "All that foolish teasing I indulged in, pretending to question your manhood. It was designed to provoke you, to get you to notice me. I thought you were a prudish old duddy-fuddy. Well, it took me a while, but I finally realized it wasn't remotely the right provocation." Her smile was sad now. "I'm sorry my vanity caused such trouble for you. I realize I was wrong and I apologize for sending you further into your shell."  
  
Her apology of her past behavior seemed dependent of his admitting to her current assessment of him, so Daniel remained silent, his only response a scowl.  
  
Ignoring his frown, she continued on brightly. "All right, I've given you my promises, now let me go over the rules for you. Just a few to begin with, although the list will grow longer I assure you."  
  
His scowl deepened.  
  
"First, unless instructed otherwise, I will always require a spoken response from you. I expect the responses to be scrupulously polite and comprehensive, and I expect to be addressed properly."  
  
In a sarcastic growl, "Oh? Do I call you 'mistress'?"  
  
She smiled but not before he thought he saw the briefest flash of uncertainty, the first he'd seen from the alien woman today. The look was fleeting however, and her voice was infuriatingly self-assured as she said, "No, Daniel, I think that would prove counterproductive. You will call me simply 'Vala.'"  
  
He filed that look away for future contemplation.  
  
"Of course, it's not necessary to address me by name constantly in a conversation, that would be simply annoying."  
  
"Oh, yes, _that_ would be annoying, _Vala_."  
  
"Secondly, you will always request permission before asking a question."  
  
"So I have to ask a question before I can ask a question?"  
  
She smiled, enjoying this. "Essentially, darling. I'm sure you're smart enough to figure it out." Then, with a grace Daniel could never equal in a thousand years, she rose to her feet in a single fluid motion. "That's enough rules for now. As you didn't offer me anything to eat or drink earlier, and don't think I don't know exactly why, I'm a bit hungry. Since I'll be here all week, I'll explore your kitchen while I decide what to make for dinner."  
  
"Oh, that sounds just lovely, _Vala_."  
  
"Come along, darling, you need to show me the way."  
  
He realized he hadn't moved a muscle since she had set him in place. Well, of course he hadn't, he reasoned, this was the most comfortable position after all. "Um, I'm kind of tied up at the moment?" he said, cocking his head back at the Humbler.  
  
"No, dear, you're merely hobbled, not tied. Crawl along now, nice and slow, I don't want you injuring yourself."  
  
"'Crawl'...? You're getting crazier by the second! I am _not_ moving."  
  
"My patience is not limitless, darling."  
  
"Maybe if you loosened this stupid thing..." Then maybe he could squirm out of it.  
  
She leaned over him and he felt a moment's hope that she would be reasonable before another stinging swat met his already abused backside. He lurched into motion without conscious thought, Vala following along at his side, hand on her own hip, grinning with an arched brow. "Good boy," she observed.  
  
  



	6. Dinner Theatre

Daniel found that, wearing the Humbler, even rising as far as hands and knees put too much strain on his abused flesh and he sank back down to his elbows, crawling them forward one after another, then moving his legs together with a kind of double-knee jump, his progress painful, slow, and utterly humiliating.

It was, in fact, a long way to the kitchen he now realized. There was a peninsula of countertop that curved around to define the kitchen space, consisting of an open bar where one could use the sink on the kitchen side or sit at bar stools on the living room side. If one had been bothered to buy bar stools of course, which he never had. To reach the kitchen should be easy; if he was standing he could simply stretch out his arm, but crawling? Not so easy.

Laboriously rounding the bar peninsula, Daniel and Vala proceeded together, him with uneven limping thumps, her with the leisurely clicky-clack of stilettos. On the way they passed through a completely empty space.

"What is this, Daniel? A game area?" Vala asked.

"It's the dining room, Vala," he explained with mock patience to the floor.

"Dining? Not very inviting... Are people expected to dine on the floor?"

"I-- It's none of your-- I'll be getting a dining set one of these days!" he huffed as he hop-jump-edged his way along.

"Yes, just as soon as you invite someone over."

Yes, exactly, he thought, not deigning to answer out loud. He'd have a big group over one of these days. He'd buy some stuff then. And he _had_ invited people over. He'd had a little housewarming party after the Osiris-incident reconstruction had finished. That'd been only...god, three years ago...?

There was a small breakfast nook off on the other side of the kitchen where he had placed a little table with two chairs. Even better, the space had a built-in computer table where he did most of his work while in the house.

An arch formed the entry from dining room to kitchen, and he went from warm hard parquet floor to cold hard linoleum, finally coming to a welcome halt.

Vala's head titled to one side. "Hmm, I see that knee pads are a must in your lovely austere home. I suppose rugs would be just too welcoming? Wouldn't want to encourage people to drop by, now would we?"

Daniel had no idea what the woman was driving at and maintained a dignified silence. As dignified as he could be crouched butt-high on the floor of his own kitchen.

"Do you have any knee pads, darling?"

"No."

"What did I say about forms of address, Daniel?"

He gritted his teeth. God, he was going to need to see the dentist after this insanity was over. "No, oh Mistress Vala, I do not have any knee pads."

She laughed and leaned down. For a second he was afraid she was going to spank him again and he stiffened with a cringe. Instead she ran a soft hand across the cheeks of his butt, one finger just barely stroking over his tight stretched balls. He shivered, cutting off a sound that he wasn't entirely certain wouldn't have been a moan. His cock stiffened as the rest of him relaxed at her touch.

"Attitude is as important as words, dear," she said, her mouth close to his ear as she spoke. He shivered again. "Sarcasm is a spank-able offense. I know you're having a hard time with this, I know you're not ready to face your true nature. I'll be going easy this evening."

True nature? Bullshit. Of course he got hard, after all she was touching him, uh, _down there_.

She just smiled down at his glare. "We'll worry about your knees tomorrow. For now..." She stroked his backside again and his cock, the traitor, twitched hopefully. "Ah, so deliciously lovely." With a regretful sigh, she rose and began to remove her long gloves. "So, what's to eat?"

"Nothing."

"Manners, dear."

"Nothing, Vala."

Vala opened his cupboards, finding his limited supply of dry-goods and pulling out a little cardboard package of couscous. She squinted at the cover, saying, "'Cows-cows'?"

"'Coos-coos,'" he said, correcting her pronunciation automatically.

She read the instructions, scrounging up a sauce pan and setting the quick-to-cook grain on the stovetop. As the water heated up to boiling, Vala went through the whole kitchen, Daniel watching cricked neck with in increasing confusion.

She pulled out the bamboo-wood breadboard Sam had bought him as part of a housewarming gift, setting it aside with a satisfied pat. Then she squealed with delight as she located the matching citrus juicer. "Oh, this is perfect! But later, not now."

Daniel had no idea what she was talking about and frankly didn’t give a crap. He didn’t intend to humor her.

"Oh, good, clothes pins, these'll do nicely," she muttered, rummaging through a drawer.

Huh? Daniel used them to reseal bags of rice or chips or the like.

"Don't worry, I'll loosen the springs for the first few times."

Whatever. He couldn't worry about something he didn't understand. Although experience had certainly taught him to worry when it came to Vala Mal Doran.

She piled her finds up, including a spare set of hot-pot holders. When the couscous was ready, she added some sauce retrieved from the same cupboard, dished up two plates and two glasses of water, ordered Daniel to follow her to the breakfast nook table, making two trips with time to spare by the time he got there.

Finally, she'd have to take this ridiculous Humbler-thing off, no way could he sit with it, and then he would overpower her. He tensed as subtly as he could as he waited beside the table, knowing this was his chance.

Then he blinked in disbelief as she laid his plate on the floor in front of him along with the glass of water.

"Here you go, darling. Dig in while it's warm," Vala said cheerily, placing a spoon on the plate.

"Are you--? You're--! Are you fucking crazy!?"

"Language _and_ disrespect? Have you forgotten the rules already?"

"Fuck the rules! Vala, I’m serious, goddamn it! Stop this now!"

She sighed stepping back to the kitchen. "Really, darling, I had hoped this wouldn't be necessary the first day..."

"The _first_ day? This has gone on long enough! It ends now! I am _not_ eating off the floor!"

She came back holding the bamboo breadboard like a paddle and even as his eyes widened with horrified realization there was nothing he could do to protect himself as she brought the unforgiving wood down so hard he heard it whistle.

The pain exploded like fire on his butt. "Son of a bitch!"

"More coarse language? I'm disappointed in you, Daniel."

She lifted the paddle again and he gasped quickly, blinking back tears of pain, "No, no! Please! No..."

Holding paddle up in clear threat, she asked, "No what, darling?"

"N-No, Vala, please, don't..."

"Don't?"

"Don't s-spank me," he ended miserably. He would never forgive her for this, not in a million years. Then he was gasping anew. She had lowered the paddle and slipped her other hand between his legs to grasp his cock. His hard, thick, stiff-as-a-board cock... What the hell? He was stiff as the damn paddle.

He lowered his head, ashamed, expecting ridicule, but she only gave him a gentle squeeze and withdrew her fingers, saying gently, "No need to be embarrassed, Daniel, I'm your Guide and your Dominant."

"You're the pain in my ass," he muttered, willing his breathing to slow and his cock to stop its foolish throbbing.

Vala laughed with delight. "Daniel! You made a joke! We're making progress already!" She gave him a humiliating pat on the head, went to the kitchen to wash her hands, and returned to the table. She sat down, giving her meal a delicate taste. "Hmm, not bad if I myself do so say," she declared, mangling the Earth idiom as usual.

Too sore to fight any longer, and too hungry once the smell of fresh couscous hit him, he picked up his spoon and, balanced on one elbow, dug into his helping. When he'd eaten enough to take the edge off his hunger, he stated, "So you're a sadist, Vala."

Vala washed down her current mouthful and answered easily, "If I understand the term, no. I only use pain as much as a particular sub wants or needs. I only get pleasure from inflicting pain if the sub gets pleasure in receiving it."

That wasn't true. It couldn't be. "You think I...?" Appetite lost, Daniel let the spoon fall back into the bowl.

"You're not necessarily a masochist, Daniel. Your reaction to my swat in the office that day was more from my dominance than the pain of the swat itself."

He refused to respond. She hadn't asked a question, had she?

"Of course, punishment is a necessary by-product of a Taming, but to inflict pain on an unwilling subject is distasteful to me."

"Really?" he asked, brows raised sarcastically.

"Yes, really, Daniel, if you'd look beyond your self-centered world."

"Self...? _Me_? Self-centered? Do you have any idea how much I do around the SGC?"

"Yes, but why?"

"Why?"

"Why do you do so much? What are you trying to prove? And to whom?"

He shook his head, tired of word games with this crazy woman, tired of his aching nether-regions. "I'm finished, Vala," he said, pushing sullenly at his dish, letting her think he was only referring to the half-eaten meal.

"All right, darling. Bedtime then."

He looked up incredulously as Vala scooped up their dishes and set them to soak in the sink. It was barely dark! And it being wintertime, that was saying something.

"Which way to the bedroom?"

"It's on the other side of the living room," he said petulantly.

"Get started then, Daniel. I'll see how much I can get done by the time you get there." She set off with an energetic walk, while Daniel set off thumping and scooting like a drunken walrus, muttering vicious imprecations under his breath as soon as Vala was out of earshot.

A short time after Vala disappeared into the short passage that led to the master bedroom she called out, "Oh my. Tell me you're joking."

"I could say the same to you," he dared to call back, hoping she'd be too preoccupied to come out after him.

"This bed is smaller than the cot I used as a little girl!"

Oh, she'd seen his bed. His narrow, single bed. "So?"

There was a few moments’ silence, then she called out a bit more quietly, "You never planned on bringing anyone here, did you?"

He lurched along glowering. "So what if I didn't? What do you care?"

"I care a lot, darling."

His glower only increased. "What the hell business is it of yours anyhow?" he muttered in a quiet snarl. "And who the hell decided to make this damn house so damn big?" The answer to that, he reflected, inching his painful way across the full width of the house, from breakfast nook to master bedroom, was Jack.

After the Osiris incident had blown half the original structure apart, Jack had insisted Daniel take the opportunity to upgrade the house. Daniel had agreed, thinking it was a good way to spend a little more time with his friend. And while the renovation lasted, it was. Then Jack drifted away into other pursuits. And Daniel moved the same sparse furniture back into an even larger house.

Including, he was reminded as he finally arrived at the bedroom, his narrow little single bed. Which apparently he wouldn't be using tonight. Vala had made good use of her time as he had hobbled along. Layering several spare blankets for padding, she had made him a nest on the floor at the foot of the bed to sleep on.

"I think it looks rather cozy," she gushed, looking down at her handiwork with approval. Daniel only stared in resignation. "Bathroom time now. You have a private one back here, yes?"

Yes, more distance to travel, and he kept going on into the en suite master bath, suddenly bone tired, everything conspiring in his exhaustion: the non-stop missions these last few weeks, the cramped wait in the fertilizer storeroom, the helter-skelter run for the Gate, his apparently useless struggles against Vala. He couched on the cold bathroom tiles, his nude body chilled with the significant exception of his still stinging butt, his groin sore and stretched, his knees and elbows aching from the crawling.

"Poor tired darling. Let's make this quick."

She insisted he pee into a bowl rather than use the toilet. It was just a plain ceramic mixing bowl and he had to go, he couldn't help it. She held his penis, aiming for him, and he let loose his stream, his face burning, feeling like an animal, controlled by his handler.

After the additional humiliation of having his teeth brushed for him, Vala announced, "Back to the bedroom now, darling, it's almost time to rest."

He inched his way to the foot of the bed, slumped in defeat. She placed him beside the blankets and crouched next to him, stroking his hair. "Daniel, it won't all be pain," she assured him softly. "It can be pleasure too."

Then she spanked him again. But it was different from earlier. She held her hand loosely, her fingers spread. There was a bite to it, but not the punishing sting from before. Just a little bite...a little warm pleasant bite, radiating out, spreading, through his captured balls, and down to his cock...

Still spanking with one hand, Vala ran the other across his chest, tickling around his stiffening nipples and down along his belly; he shouldn't allow this, he should crouch down lower, cut off her access, but he didn't, he didn't and the fingers continued on down past his belly, stroking the thickening, eager length she found at his groin; he shouldn't be hard, it didn't matter how light the spanking was it was still a spanking and he didn't like that sort of thing, no, he didn't, but he rose up as much as he could, coming up off his elbows despite the strain, giving those clever fingers more room to play; he twisted, curled towards her, hands planted flat on the wood floor, palms sticky with sweat; he stared at her with bewilderment, her grey eyes seeming to grow and fill his world, her smile gentle and kind, no derision, no mockery; he heard his panting breath and his needy little grunts coming in time to the light spanks, he wanted to stop the sound, he couldn't lose control, he couldn't reveal himself, not like this, not to anyone, not for any reason, it was dangerous...

Then his vision narrowed and he whimpered and rocked urgently on his hands and knees, and his testicles tried to tighten against the Humbler, and he ached, and he needed... _he needed_...

With motions he could no longer comprehend, Vala deftly removed the constraint on his balls, then her fingers on him tightened and his mind whited out and he felt only pleasure, he convulsed in a flood of pleasure, pleasure that flowed and rushed around him, carrying him along, sweeping him away until he barely knew where he was.

Or how he ended up on a nest of blankets, sweaty and shaky and panting for breath, blinking stupidly at the ropes he found tied around his wrists, moving his legs to find his ankles were similarly tied.

Daniel lay his head down, knowing he wouldn't be able to sleep. How could he? After everything that happened this evening, all the outrageous things Vala had done? He shouldn't anyhow, he needed to loosen the ropes and escape, this was his chance.

He twitched into a more comfortable position as Vala laid a blanket over top of him and fell immediately and deeply asleep.


	7. A Domme is Fearless and Filled with Self-Confidence

Vala was terrified.

She was absolutely petrified. She hadn't been this scared even during her first Guiding, although training dear sweet Heth in submission barely qualified as a _Taming_ at all, he was so eager to please.

Oh, of course she'd been in physical danger since those long-ago days, and Qetesh's possession had been no, how did the Tau'ri phrase it? walk in the woods. But this... An involuntary Taming, and administered on someone so important to her? Yes, she was terrified.

That man who had crouched so helplessly at her feet last night, piercing her with a blue-eyed glare... He was angry, he was vindictive, he was scheming. He was out for blood.

But he was also confused, vulnerable, frightened and oh so lost and alone. He didn't know it, refused to admit it, but Daniel was counting on her. Counting on her to Guide him on a voyage of self-discovery and healing. And she wouldn't let him down. She refused to. He was worth any effort.

And besides, it wasn't like it was exactly a hardship, having total control over _all_ that lovely masculinity.

Vala walked quietly into the bedroom, sipping a cup of fresh coffee, Monday morning sunshine streaming through window blinds. Setting her cup to one side, she went to the bed and lay down on her stomach peering over the foot, chin on stacked fists, feet idly kicking in the air, observing her gorgeous boy sleep.

And gorgeous his was, she had made good use of the rope she brought. His wrists were tied together with four loops of cord, a column knot that distributed pressure evenly, safe and secure. The same kind of knot graced his ankles as well, wrists and ankles then secured to the two legs at the foot of the bed frame by more cord.

Those strong muscles contained and controlled, the contrast of the pale rope against his tanned skin... Hmm, positively delicious. She licked her lips, thinking of the way he had come undone under her hands last night.

She wasn't surprised by how fast he had fallen asleep after his orgasm, nor was she surprised he'd slept for fifteen hours straight, although he no doubt would be once he woke up. Not that he would ever admit it of course. Between the brutal schedule he kept at the SGC and the long hours of work off-world, it was a wonder he hadn't collapsed from exhaustion weeks if not months ago. He pushed himself so hard he was his own worst enemy, willfully endangering himself. No one knew how to stop him. No one knew what to do when it came to Dr. Daniel Jackson. No one but Vala.

His friends didn't know him, not really. Everyone was so busy saving the world, they never really saw the pain and despair in those eyes. Maybe it was her calling, or maybe just an outsider's perspective, but Vala could see him, truly see him, imperfections and all. Not that there were a terribly great amount of imperfections. Oh, the feel of his smooth chest last night, the hard muscles and soft skin...

Hobbling him was the most important step. Once Vala had achieved control over Daniel's physical body, there was no way he could get the upper hand over her, she was too experienced for that. He was stronger than her and a good fighter, but she had control of his testicles, she thought smugly, and that, as Cameron would say, was game-over for a man.

She listened to his quiet snores, thinking of her one moment of indecision yesterday. When Daniel had asked if she wanted to be called Mistress. Her first Taming with Heth, it had been an easy decision. The earnest boy had loved a Domme of his own to call Mistress. With Daniel... She couldn't do it. She couldn't bring herself to insist he call her Mistress. Yes, it would've sped up the Taming, but it also would've added a distance between them, a permanence to their roles that was fine when it came to Heth, but which she didn't want between Daniel and herself.

Exactly why she didn't want that distance between them...

Vala shied away from the thought. This wasn't about _her_ , she was here for Daniel. Like he had been there for her in that awful warehouse, when she struggled to regain her memory after the kidnapping, not knowing who to trust. This week she'd be constantly on duty and working hard. There'd be no relaxing, not even at night really. She had slept very lightly last night and expected to do the same for the rest of the week.

She rolled off the bed and left the room to pace one more circuit around the house hoping to expend some nervous energy.

She had reconnoitered the home's interior at length last night, peeking briefly into the garage and out the front and back doors, always coming back to check on her sleeping boy, like a first-time mother nervous about her newborn. Of course it wasn't to check that he was still breathing, but to check that he hadn't woken unexpectedly and worked his bonds loose.

Her first order of business had been to remove anything he could possibly use as a weapon. The very thought of Daniel getting so enraged that he hurt himself with a knife-- She shuddered. So away went kitchen knives, can openers, skewers, scissors, letter openers, even nail clippers. There didn't appear to be any guns in the house, not surprisingly considering whose house it was. There was no safe or hidden compartments that Vala could find, and she was quite good at finding those kinds of things, and in more technologically advanced worlds than this.

Also hidden away were several antique swords which had been hanging on the walls in the living room. They were part of Daniel's collections, along with hanging masks in the bedroom, vases and statues on display shelves, set out and forgotten, thick with grime, a cold facsimile of a museum rather than the warm inviting space one would expect in a home.

Next Vala needed to separate Daniel from any obligations, self-imposed or not, that might hold him back this week. When she had inspected the master bedroom, she found a painfully small collection of framed photos: only two. The first was a shot of his dead wife Shau'ri. Vala had seen a copy of this photo before, the beautiful young woman smiling so innocently, unaware of the years of pain awaiting her. Vala understood the nightmare the Abydon woman had undergone, who better? and only wished her experience with the Goa'uld could have had the happy ending of Vala's own.

The other picture was an old one, SG-1 in the early years of its existence. She sighed. More youthful innocence: Jack O'Neill and Samantha grinning confidently, even Teal'c looking optimistic. And Daniel so young and open, blond hair falling into guileless blue eyes.

The photos sat on one end of a display table, somewhat obscured by a stone carved bust of some ancient god and a stack of books. Almost like Daniel didn't really want to look at them, but couldn't bear to put them away. Vala left them where they were, but turned them so they faced the wall.

There wasn't much more to Daniel's bedroom: a bedside table, a treadmill, and that sad little bed, so lonely in the large room.

She had sorted through three thick books that sat on the bedside table last night, finding them to be treatises on a philosophy call Existentialism. It didn't seem to be a very cheery outlook. She found a passage Daniel had underlined defining existentialist despair as not simply a transitory loss of hope, but a permanent state of being: so long as a person's sense of identity depends on qualities that can crumble, he is considered to be in perpetual despair, whether he knows it or not.

By the Lady, if this was what Daniel considered light bedtime reading, no wonder he came to work so pissy.

Down a short hallway behind the kitchen Vala had found two spare rooms, one set up as a home office, packed full to bursting with books. Books of all kinds and sizes, stacks of book, baskets of books, clever wheeled shelves of books that rolled to one side and gave access to yet more shelves of books behind them. Like almost everything else in the house, this room was dusty, even the desk and computer tucked away in one corner. It appeared he mostly used his lap-computer in the little area off the kitchen by the table she had eaten dinner on.

The other spare room was used for more storage, full of boxes. Some were labeled with the names of Daniel's parents. Even Vala could tell the cracked and yellowed tape sealing them shut was very old. No one had opened them in years, maybe decades.

Neither room contained a spare bed for a friend to sleep over in.

A small guest bathroom at the end of the hallway didn't appear to have ever been used, not even containing toilet paper, much less towels or a shower curtain.

When she inspected the big bathroom off the master bedroom she had been surprised by the size and sheer luxury of it, until she realized that Daniel was only using those facilities which he absolutely needed to: the shower stall to the left of the entry door and one sink of a double vanity along the wall to the right. Beyond the vanity was a tiny little room with a toilet, not that Daniel would be using it for a few days to come.

On the far wall opposite the vanity was a positively hedonistic whirly-pool tub, little if ever used to judge from the dust accumulated in it as well as several spiders who'd set up housekeeping.

On either side of the tub were two matching walk-in closets, 'His and Hers,' she imagined, having heard of this concept before from Samantha. The one on the left contained the pathetically small amount of clothing Daniel owned, the other stood completely empty. The bathroom, like the rest of the house, was painted in a severe white, softened here somewhat by fixtures and tiled floor in shades of green.

This morning, walking through the quiet house one last time, Vala reflected on the tale the dust told, a tale of self-imposed isolation and deprivation; the roomy house, designed for a family of four or more, unused save for the kitchen and breakfast table, the living room couch, the bed, and in the bathroom, shower, sink and toilet.

He lived as a monk. Despite the large house, Daniel used no more of it than a man who'd taken a vow of poverty. And chastity.

Well, a vow of poverty and a life dedicated to the welfare of others was all very well, until taken so far as to constitute self-harm. And the vow of chastity was definitely out. There was no point to it but useless self-flagellation, a denial of joy with no balancing gain. He could be more than he was currently allowing himself to be, and Vala intended to show that to him. Whether he liked it or not.

Back in the bedroom and gazing down at him now, she could see from the rise and fall of that lovely muscled chest that he was close to waking. She retrieved her coffee cup and sat down cross-legged in front of him, sipping as he began to stir.

He was a study in contrasts, her Daniel was. Self-sacrificing to a fault, yet deceptively proud. Justifiably so when it came to his intelligence, and he never consciously showed off, but his self-effacement was a thin veneer covering an ego that steamrolled everything and everyone in its path. He'd been known to reduce the occasional underling to tears by his unthinking arrogance, which was perhaps acceptable in an impersonal business relationship, but in the case of teammates and a close-knit community like the SGC, it could result in serious hurt feelings and resentments.

She'd heard so many stories of his generous nature in the past, especially before his wife had died, but the passage of years, this last year in particular, had not been kind. Since his friend Jack O'Neill had left and she herself unintentionally denied him Atlantis, he had retreated into a prickly shell. She could see his future, the shell growing thicker and thicker as the years and decades passed until no one had a hope of getting through to him, until no one bothered to try. And he would never come out of his shell on his own, never.

The orgasm she had wrung from him last night...it was almost as if she had _forced_ pleasure upon him. No, not 'almost as if,' that was exactly what it was, he had denied his nature, denied himself joy, for so long he couldn't change his ways on his own. His heart was buried deep, protected behind strong walls. Unfortunately while that kept out pain, it also kept out joy.

Just the kind of challenge fit for Vala Mal Doran, qedesha of the Temple of the Stars of Heaven, Domme, Guide and Trainer, initiate in the rites of sexual ecstasy.

She had set up the pot of coffee earlier, letting the smell do its work, helping it along now by waving her hand over her cup and wafting the scent to him. With a last soft snore, Daniel shifted on his blankets, tied hands twisting, a sleepy frown of confusion beginning to wrinkle his brow.

Okay, game-time now.


	8. Monday Morning Blues

Blinking and disoriented, Daniel twisted harder at his bound hands, and Vala placed a calming hand to his wrist.

"Don't pull so, darling, I don't want you to scrape yourself."

In an instant, Daniel lurched up clumsily to his hands and knees, trying to avoid her, his tied limbs preventing him from doing much more than tangling the blankets. He crouched low in an effort to hide his groin, looking like a startled creature of the forest, longing for a kind touch, but too frightened to take the chance.

She flashed back again to the Temple, Heth kneeling on the cool mosaic floor at her feet in voluntary supplication, trembling with excitement, arousal and fear. Quite a contrast to Daniel's enforced supplication. Oh he was aroused all right, she could tell no matter how he tried to twist his body to hide it. And he was trembling, but with anger as well as fear. It was a bit disconcerting to have slept the night in his bed, his delicious scent in the sheets, dreaming in snatches when she let herself sleep at all, fantasies that probably would never come true, only to see the cold hostility in his eyes this morning.

She quashed a sad sigh and put a cheerful smile on. "Good morning, darling. How did you sleep?"

"Like I'd been tied up and forced to sleep on the damn floor. How do you think I slept?"

Still smiling, Vala sipped her coffee. "Um, yummy!" She gave a dramatic sigh. "What a shame you can't have any, Daniel. Only good boys can have coffee."

He tottered on his tied limbs, giving her an incredulous glare. "You think I'll crawl and beg just for a cup of coffee?" he demanded, voice rough with sleep. "What do you take me for?"

"A man who's desperate for coffee. After your fifteen hour nap, I'd think you'd want some."

His frown intensified as he took in the brightness of the late morning sun and realized how soundly he had slept. She could see a dozen snarky responses flash across his expressive face, but he settled for a sullen pout.

Oh, the things she could do with that full lower lip...

Vala cleared her throat. "Come along to the bathroom, darling. Let's get you ready for the day."

After untying the ropes that tied him to the bed legs, but leaving his wrists and ankles lashed, she led him into the bathroom. Daniel clung to an air of injured patience as Vala washed his face with a cloth, cooperating with ill-grace as she brushed his teeth and directed him to urinate into the same bowl as the night before.

Remembering lessons from her own Trainer, Vala knew that taking control of a submissive's personal functions was basic procedure in gaining his trust. Not that Daniel saw it that way.

"You know, Vala, I'm well-trained to resist brainwashing techniques," Daniel observed, making an effort to sound casual.

"That's good, darling," she murmured, placing the rinsed bowl on the countertop next to the unused sink. "It will serve you well next time you're taken prisoner by an enemy."

She ignored the resulting aggrieved glare and picked up the Humbler. "Time to get dressed," she announced brightly.

More aggrieved glares shot her way, and she could plainly see Daniel testing his bonds, calculating the outcomes of any possible resistance. Thank goodness he concluded the futility thereof and crouched down with a wordless snarl. She let his rudeness go for the moment, promising herself the morning grace period would be over once Daniel left the bathroom.

Vala eased Daniel's testicles back, snapping the Humbler into place to the tune of a gasping whimper from the involuntary submissive. Then the Domme couldn't resist settling back for a moment to appreciate the view.

Those plump balls punctuating the base of that gorgeous rump... Hmm, like the fat juicy dot of an obscene exclamation point. Oh my, he had no idea how appealing he looked.

She removed the binds to his wrists and ankles, directing him back into the bedroom as she mentally reviewed her plan of action. She would be slowly increasing the pain level of his punishments, and it would most likely be exclusively punishment at first. Discipline would come later, when he wasn't so constantly sore.

And once he'd been properly Tamed... Oh she really could hardly wait.

###

  
Daniel had barely hobbled his way to the middle of the bedroom when Vala exited the bathroom behind him, holding up a plastic packet of some kind. "Daniel, I found a pack of these hideous white tubular socks and I'd like to use them as kneepads for you."

"So?" he grunted, coming to a halt. "Go ahead, what say do I have in it?"

"I'll have to cut them and you won't be able to use them as socks again."

He stared at her in incomprehension.

"Darling, I promised I wouldn't interfere with your personal objects and I will keep that promise."

Daniel rolled his eyes. "I don't care about the socks."

As the alien woman opened up the pack Daniel watched her, trying not to be too obvious about it. She looked...amazing today. Skintight black leather pants and the same stiletto-heeled pumps, coupled with a workaday-grey SGC tank top and pigtails tied up with cheap sparkly hair clips.

Pulling out two socks, Vala clipped the toe section off each of them, spiriting the scissors back away into the top of the bathroom medicine cabinet. She folded the resulting tubes to double them, and slid one onto each of Daniel's legs, bringing them up to cover his knees. For extra padding, she wedged the two hot-pot holders she had found in the kitchen the night before.

"More comfy?" she asked.

It was but he only shrugged.

A stinging swat to his butt had him jumping with a yelp.

"Use your words, darling."

"Yes, Vala," he said, eyes watering, remembering now not only just how painful a spank on the butt was, but all rules Vala had outlined last night.

"Better," she said.

Remembering that he wasn't supposed to ask questions, he stated, "So you said you wouldn't interfere with my personal objects, yet somehow you found the socks, leading me to believe you went through my drawers."

"Yes, Daniel," she acknowledged seriously, sitting down on the bed to speak with him. "I have gone through the house to familiarize myself with it and I've relocated anything I believe could be dangerous to you."

"Really?" he asked with a sarcastic drawl. "Anything dangerous to _me_?"

She gave him an infuriatingly condescending smile. "Yes, darling, anything dangerous to you. The only other thing I've done was to turn your photos around."

For a moment he had no idea what she was talking about, then he glanced towards the side table and saw the two photo frame-backs. One was Shau'ri of course, but what had the other been? SG-1 he was sure, but which picture?

Vala was still talking. "I mean no disrespect to your dear wife or your friends, but what will be happening this week is for your sake and your benefit only. I want to you to be thinking of what is right for _you_ , not what you think others want you to be."

God, what _would_ Shau'ri have thought if she could see him now? She wouldn't let Vala get away with something like this, that was for sure. She'd put up a good fight for him... Wait, what? Where had that thought come from? Was he some pathetic damsel in distress needing rescue? He lowered his head, staring at the floor between his flat splayed hands. Yes, exactly, he was pathetic. She wouldn't fight for him, she would turn away in disgust at his weakness--

A firm grip to his chin lifted his eyes up to meet Vala's. She had come down off the bed to kneel in front of him. "Darling, listen to me," she ordered firmly. "I don't want you thinking about what others expect. This week is just for you."

He stared into those mesmerizing grey eyes, wondering if she really meant that. She had apparently ransacked the house including the very room he'd been sleeping in--how had he slept through that anyhow? Well, as much as he wanted her out of here, he couldn't very well get mad at her for merely rotating a couple photographs 180 degrees. Nor was there anything in the house he was ashamed of anyone seeing, so eventually he shrugged again, cutting off the gesture as he remembered his still-stinging rump and said, "That's fine, Vala."

"Good boy." She sat back up on the bed. “Now, as to your glasses, I would prefer you didn’t wear them for now because of the positions and activities in store for you this week. I wouldn’t want them slipping off and breaking. However, I want it clear, I’m not trying to put you off-balance or make you feel vulnerable through enforced blindness. So in this matter I will let you decide. Glasses, yes or no?”

Actually he'd forgotten all about them. In the close quarters of the house, he didn't really need them. Still he wasn't going to be nice about it. “Well, gee, Vala, thank you so much for consulting me. I’m grateful for you keeping me in the loop.”

She grinned with delight. “You’re welcome, darling.”

“And no, god forbid you should be responsible for breaking a pair of glasses. I mean, next thing you know you’d embark on a crime spree. Who knows what you’ll end up doing? Kidnapping, assault...?”

She threw her head back with laughter, and even through his irritation at being laughed at, Daniel couldn't help drinking in the sight.

He gritted his teeth, trying to hang on to his anger. “Of course, you’re no stranger to kidnapping and assault," he said bitterly, thinking of the hijacking of the Prometheus. "Though I see you’ve skipped the piracy this time.”

“Oh, I don’t know, darling. I’ve commandeered your home, haven’t I?”

Damn it, she was supposed to be defensive, not playful.

“One quick stop in the garage, then breakfast. Come along now." As Vala left the room she picked up the wooden breadboard she'd used as a paddle last night. “With your permission, I'd like to alter this to make it a little easier to use."

What, did she want to make the handle easier to hold? Whatever. "Why certainly, Vala, be my guest," he huffed as he humped his way out of the room.

The interior door to the garage was across from the master bedroom door, along a small hallway that also held the entry to a little laundry room.

Daniel waited in his low crouch at the garage doorway, watching Vala with incomprehension. She'd apparently been in the garage at some point during the night because she went straight to the drill, putting on an attachment that cut out one-inch diameter holes. She made six holes in two rows, evenly spaced, the little circular bamboo plugs falling to the floor and bouncing away, then she lightly sanded the edges smooth.

Damn Sam and her housewarming gift anyway...

He had absolutely no idea what Vala was doing or why and was damned if he was going to ask.

"All done," Vala announced, holding the paddle up and admiring it as if it was a great work of art. "By the way, dear, I see you have some lumber over here. May I use some of it?"

Daniel glanced over at the jumbled pile in front of his jeep. It was the unused lumber and building supplies left over from the rebuilding of the house after the Osiris incident. He shook his head, saying, "I don't care."

“Thank you. Well, I worked up an appetite, darling, how about you?" Vala asked, exiting the garage and closing the door behind them.

"Not particularly, Vala," he muttered, laboriously following his tormentor (or was that tormentrix?) through the living and dining rooms to the kitchen.


	9. Daniel Learns a Japanese Word (That He Really Didn’t Want To)

As Daniel waited, stomach growling, Vala scrambled a few eggs that were just past their expiration date, cooking them along with the last of a withered bunch of scallions and some cheese that she scraped the mold off of. She fed him on the floor again but this time he thought better of complaining. Besides, he really was hungry and all the interrogation-survival manuals he'd read advised prisoners to keep their strength up. He refused to admit that he might be overstating the case just a tad.

He maintained a sullen silence during the meal, the elusive aroma of coffee pure torture to him, and after they'd both finished, Vala left the dishes where they were. “Come to the living room, I think you’ve worn the Humbler long enough.”

“I think I agree," Daniel muttered in relief, crawling to join her at the coffee table where one of Vala's soft-sided suitcases lay.

“Of course, I can’t have you completely unbound," Vala continued. "Will you cooperate with me, Daniel?”

“Um, gee, Vala, no, I don’t think I will.”

“I thought not," she said with breezy unconcern.

She moved past him, and he began to twist, trying to follow her movements, watching where she went, trying to decided how best to thwart her. But he didn’t have a chance.

He caught a blur of movement above and his left arm was whipped out from under him, shoulder pushed down, face on a controlled dive to the rug. Vala hovered above him, straddling him, pushing down just enough to put stress on his trapped balls, but not enough to cause real damage. He barely had time to register the feeling of several strands of rope looping around his left wrist, grunting a surprised protest, when his right arm was expertly swiveled around to meet his left behind his back, his face gently but implacably ground into the rug.

One bemused part of his mind spared a moment of gratitude that Vala chose to do this on the only rug in the house, the rest of his mind however was just a bit preoccupied as his right wrist was firmly lashed to the left.

“Huh. Guess I didn’t really need your cooperation after all," Vala observed, not even out of breath, damn her.

Stunned by the quickness, Daniel belatedly tugged at the bonds, feeling no give. How had she done that so fast? He felt like a roped calf at a rodeo.

“Now don’t go away, darling," Vala warned, stepping out of his air space and turning to rummage through her bag on the table.

Like he was going anywhere. “Very funny!" He spat out a mouthful of rug-fluff, tugging harder at his wrists. “Goddamn it, Vala!”

“That knot is very useful," Vala observed absently. “It doesn’t tighten when the submissive struggles. They call it a French bowline here on Earth.”

“I am _not_ a _submissive_ ," he growled, tugging all the harder.

"Your world has an amazing plethora of interesting objects available on the computer-net, but I prefer to do it the old fashion way," Vala continued as if he hadn't spoken at all. From his position face-planted into the rug, Daniel could see Vala pulling more lengths of rope out of her bag, some coiled, some pre-knotted. "I could've spent a fortune, but my snoopys would've had so many awkward questions. Easier to make it all myself. Except for the Humbler, I wanted to make sure you were safe in that." She paused with a thoughtful expression on her face. "Plus I was curious to see if either of them would recognized it. Such tight-lacers, I think a little session with the Humbler could do them very good indeed." She dug deeper in the bag, finally announcing, "Ah, here it is."

She held up a long double length of cord, knotted together every five or so inches. “Of course the harness needs an anchor..." she murmured, and set the rope down to plunge back into the bag.

Harness? No way. And what kind of 'anchor' was she talking about? Out of the corner of his eye he saw Vala pull out... Oh no.

She held the object up for her pleased inspection. “I bought this on an outing with Cameron. I told him I thought it would be a nice first step towards getting a dog and he believed me. He's a dear man, but a trifle gullible."

It was a dog collar.

“No!" Daniel shouted, pulling harder at his wrists.

“True, I could use rope exclusively, but I think the symbolism of this is worth the loss of aesthetic simplicity."

“I don’t give a _fuck_ about aesthetic--!"

Vala delivered the by-now familiar insult to his ass, but the extra bite of the knotted rope, used as a whip, rocked him, leaving him gasping hard.

“Behave yourself, darling," Vala admonished, then continued in a bemused and speculative tone, “You do seem to provoke quite a bit for someone in such a vulnerable position. Almost as if you crave the punishment...”

Daniel clamped down on an angry response, trying to ignore the throbbing making itself known in his groin. And she was right about how exposed he was in this position, with his face planted in the rug, it put his butt on especially acute display.

Distracted, he didn’t struggle as she slipped the collar on and buckled it behind his neck. “I attached some felt to the inside." She slid two fingers in between the collar and his neck. “Not too tight? Swallow for me, darling.”

He obeyed with a gulp, too dazed at the moment to know how to resist.

“So far so good," she said. "Now let me think of the safest way to do this..."

She eyed him thoughtfully, measuring out yet another length of the blasted rope. He twitched and jumped as she wrapped some loops around his captured balls, running the rest of the length along his back and so up to the collar, fastening it there. Then she removed the Humbler. Fat lot of good it did him at this point, with the rope apparently taking its place.

“All right, now, daisy-upsie!" Vala was a strong woman and she levered him up onto his knees, simultaneously tightening the length of the cord looping his balls until his back was forced straight upright.

The rope taking the Humbler’s place basically worked to the opposite effect: instead of needing to curl up to ease the strain on his testicles, he now needed to straighten up high, and he knelt upright, on full display to his kidnapper.

Daniel felt he should resist now that the Humbler was off, but how? His wrists were tied, his testicles were still captured. Other than head-butting the woman, what else could he do? She was an experienced fighter, he had barely beat her on the Prometheus.

So he knelt there passively, avoiding her eyes.

Taking up the double knotted length of rope, Vala said, "I prepared this based on my estimates of your height. Let's see how accurate I was." With a jingle she hung it from the front D-ring of the collar, where the dog tags should hang.

"This is called a karada. Do you know that word, Daniel?" Vala asked.

She passed it between his legs, the double cord to either side of his genitals, and so up his back, slipping it under his tied arms, to fasten to the collar behind his neck, presumably next to the length that already held his testicles captive.

"Um, Japanese?"

"Yes. It simply means 'body,' but in this context it means a cord-binding that encases the whole body or any part of it that's wished."

At first the rope was a loose fit, but then she began to tie the front section to the back section, drawing out the double cords between each knot to form a series of diamonds down his torso.

"These knots are called double coins," she remarked as she worked, pointing to the knots she had pre-tied, trailing down his torso like buttons on a shirt. She tended to one side of him, then the other, her warm fingers rubbing and tickling, her citrus-scented pigtails bouncing and brushing, the fit of the rope harness growing more snug and form fitting the farther she went. "They lie nice and flat." She pressed against the knot that lay between his belly button and his groin, and he bit his lip, his cock filling.

She smiled, but didn't touch the bobbing shaft, finishing up the karada until the rope web clung to him tautly, but not painfully constricting.

"There, fits perfectly. I guess I observed your form correctly, hmm?"

She then took a separate piece of rope and tied it at its midpoint to the intersection of the harness at his chest, leaving two loose lengths hanging down. Reaching around to the back of the collar, Vala said, “Brace yourself, darling, this will be a bit cruel.”

Before Daniel could react, Vala tugged up on the leash connecting to his balls, stretching them back hard and fast. Already sore from the Humbler, he voiced a high-pitched whimper of surprise.

“I know, sweetheart, but it’s just for a moment," she sympathized.

Daniel heard what sounded like honest regret as he panted in distress. Working quickly, Vala released his wrists from behind his back, drawing them around to his front, and securing them to the two loose cords she had left hanging from the harness. His hands were tied into place before he knew it, too distracted by the shooting pains in his balls. When she loosened the leash back to its previous snug but not torturous tension, Daniel looked down to see his hands were technically free, but literally on short leashes: they each had maybe seven or so inches play, not enough to reach far, but enough to manipulate objects up close.

Vala hunkered down in front of Daniel for an inspection, an appreciative smile playing on her lips. “So easy to control a man," she remarked, taking his cock in an underhand grasp. It jutted at half-mast, having wilted a bit at the troubles his testicles just experienced. She slipped a finger under one of the cords framing his crotch, testing the tension.

"Like all men, your genitals are your weakest point," she observed, then added almost immediately, "and your strongest. Of course they’re also the most attractive and useful." She gave him a playful wink.

Daniel fisted his useless hands. “What’s to stop me from untying the rope?”

“Me, darling." She laughed. “You don’t think I’ll be letting you out of my sight, do you?" She fondled his stiffening cock. “Hmm, another little karada for your penis would be delightful, but I think you’ve had enough for the time being." After a last squeeze, she withdrew her hand. “Well, enough lazing around, darling. Get up now. There’s chores to be done. Those breakfast dishes aren’t going to wash themselves.”

He tottered off balance for a second when she removed her hand, his cock wishing she would touch him again, his head telling him he couldn't give in.

“It’s only fair," Vala said after Daniel didn't move. "I cooked, so you should wash.”

“No one asked you to cook," he groused.

“Beside the point, darling," she said as if chiding a child. “I gave you an order to get up and wash the dishes. Please obey me.”

Hands fisting tighter, arms straining against the ties, his humiliation feeding his anger, Daniel said, “You don’t get to order me around.”

She didn’t bother refuting what was obvious to both of them: that considering their respective positions, she did in fact get to order him around.

“My, aren’t we racking up the strokes," Vala drawled. "Rudeness, disrespect, disobedience. I’ll start at one stroke per offense. Please go fetch the paddle from the dining table.”

He stared at her, incredulous. “Are you out of your fucking mind?”

She put a finger to her cheek. “More rudeness, more disobedience, _and_ coarse language. You’re at six strokes now.”

He glared. She smiled back sanguinely.

“There’ll be five additional if I have to fetch it myself." Vala settled herself cross-legged, elbow on one knee, tilted head resting on her hand, regarding him with calm amusement and curiosity.

Damn it, she had all the cards right now. He bit down a curse and made to stand for the first time since yesterday afternoon, although how in the world he was supposed to do that in this getup...?

Vala rose smoothly, taking both his hands in hers. “Let me help, Daniel. I don’t want you hurting yourself.”

“Fuck you." It was out before he could stop it, the tug on his captured balls as he tottered to his feet not improving his mood.

She grinned widely as she helped steady him. “More language and more rudeness. We’re at eight strokes, darling. I’d stop while I was ahead if I were you.”

Daniel was thinking the same thing, but refused to respond. He straightened his cramped legs, regaining his balance. He had to keep his back much straighter than usual to ease the tug on his balls and he stood in a mockery of attention, like a parade ground soldier.

“Very good, Daniel. You look lovely. Now go fetch, boy.”


	10. A Lesson in the Physics of Wind Drag

Yes, fetch like a dog in a dog collar-- Daniel didn’t trust himself to look at her. He moved off, padding barefoot and quiet over the wood floor, his back rigidly upright, a wedgie from hell irritating him. Vala had run these latest ropes directly between his cheeks, and his butt twitched spasmodically in outrage at the intruder. The rope was smooth, it didn’t really chafe, but it didn’t belong there, damn it. The two cords making up the harness passed to the outside of his genitals and butt cheeks, thank god. But still... Walking stark naked with four lengths of rope running snug and unrelentingly through his crotch was not something he was really used to. Daniel’s hands jerked automatically to adjust the irritating ropes, but they, like his balls, were on a short leash.

At the breakfast nook table, even the act of retrieving the paddle was humiliating: he couldn’t simply bend over naturally, he had to perform a kind of squat with his knees and angle forward, butt thrust prominently behind. Knowing Vala watched just made his face flame all the more and what little blood wasn’t coloring his face was stiffening his cock.

By the time he arrived back in the living room, jutting cock bouncing before him like a ship’s figurehead, Vala waiting with an expectant smile as she sat on the coffee table, one leg crossed and swinging idly, any thoughts of clobbering the irritating woman with the paddle and wriggling out of his bonds evaporated.

He handed her the paddle with it resting on both his hands as if it was a relic of some kind, like a squire offering a weapon to his knight.

“Thank you, Daniel." Vala took the paddle, inspecting the holes she had drilled. She poked a finger through. “Now we find out if the holes work, hmm?”

She rose and pushed the coffee table to one side, directing him to his knees. She had him face one arm of the couch, holding on to it as best he could with his foreshortened arms.

“Daniel, you are being punished for multiple counts of rudeness, disrespect, bad language and disobedience," she stated with a formal air.

Daniel wanted to scoff at this, but found his throat too dry to do more than swallow.

“You will receive eight strokes of the paddle. You will count each stroke.”

He thought he was prepared. Those humiliating yelps of last night? That was just because he was unprepared. Then with a whistle the first stroke landed square on his ass and a cry tore past his gritted his teeth. If he thought her earlier swats were painful, these were an order of magnitude worse. What the hell?

“Hmm, that answers that question,” Vala murmured. “The holes work.”

Why was it hitting so much harder? Why would holes...? Oh god, that was it, with holes on the flat surface it would lessen the wind drag, making the paddle strike faster and harder-- The next impact forcefully cut off his musing on physics.

“The stroke doesn’t count if _you_ don’t count, darling," Vala sang out cheerfully.

“One!" he gasped immediately. "Uh, no, two!”

She chuckled. “Sorry, darling, that only counts as one. And this one will be ‘two,'" she prompted, landing a third blistering wallop.

He arched sharply with a choked cry, his cock grinding into the couch. “ _Two, two_!!" he shouted in desperation.

“Easy, sweetheart, I hear you. Two it is.”

And so it went... The ropes of his harness offered no protection and if anything, constricting from the sides and between, they pushed his two cheeks to even greater prominence. He barely managed to moderate his cries, trying to hold on to what felt like the last shred of his dignity, but at the count of eight strokes, actually nine he thought resentfully, his butt felt positively scalded. He dropped his head, breathing in great gulps.

Vala gave him a moment, then cupped his chin, turning his head, his upper body twisting to follow.

“This is what punishment will be like, sweetheart," she said sympathetically, then continued formally, "Please tell me why you were just punished, Daniel." She held up a warning finger. “And I suggest you think of your poor bottom and answer politely.”

There was no use resisting her when he was naked and bound. He tried to get his panting under control, blinking away his tears-- no not tears, his eyes were just watering. “I--I was rude and disrespectful and used bad language," he said.

“You forgot one, darling.”

“And--and disobedient.”

“And what is the polite form of address?”

“Vala," he amended quickly.

“Now again, fully and completely.”

“I--I--" He swallowed and collected his thoughts. "Vala, I was punished for being rude and disrespectful and using bad language and being disobedient," he recited, the childish phrasing unavoidable. He found he couldn’t meet those stern grey eyes.

“Good boy, Daniel. Next time, I will expect the same recitation _before_ punishment as well as after. If there is a next time," she amended.

Her hand cool and assured, Vala suddenly grasped Daniel's cock...which he just noticed was throbbing as hard and urgently as his flaming rump. When had that happened, and why? He knew it had shriveled away during the harsh paddling, but it pulsed to prominence now.

“It doesn’t have to be punishment, not if you submit." Vala stroked his sensitive flesh in time to the fiery throbs. “It’s really up to you, darling.”

He dared to meet her eyes, remembered the night before when she had brought him to orgasm. An orgasm he didn't need. He didn't. He didn't need stuff like that.

He blinked, staring in confusion at the mesmerizing grey eyes. Why was he reacting like this? What did it mean? It couldn’t mean what she thought it did, _it just couldn’t_. She was wrong, she had to be. He dropped his eyes again, shaking his head.

Vala released his penis, letting her fingers trail away from the straining organ tantalizingly, Daniel arching in helpless reaction, his body seeking contact of its own accord.

But Vala only laughed. “Now, are we properly chastised and ready for our chores, sweetheart?”

He wanted to growl and snap at her, but all he had energy for was a nod.

"Use your words, darling."

"Yes, Vala."

Again she helped him rise, sighing with appreciation at the sight of him. “Oh my, so lovely."

He kept his eyes lowered, biting his lip nervously.

"I know it scares you when people notice your sexuality, but you are a truly handsome man," Vala said.

He was perversely pleased no matter how much he told himself not to be, but he couldn't let her think something as ridiculous as that first part. "I'm not scared, Vala," he insisted.

"Not scared of what?"

"Of my se-- Of what you said," he finished lamely, irritated at himself. Could he not even say the word 'sex' out loud? God, he did sound scared. But he wasn't. Really, he wasn't. Maybe he wasn't as experienced as some people, but he wasn't scared of anything. He just didn't like talking about it. Or thinking about it. Well, the good thing was his irritation caused his cock to subside enough so he could walk.

Back in the kitchen, Daniel awkwardly gathered up the breakfast dishes and placed them in the sink. He fingered a butter knife longingly, but it was useless. Whatever knife Vala had used to chop the scallions was nowhere to be seen now. But if he could break a glass and cut even one of the ties fastening his hands-- Unfortunately Vala was never far. She went to her bag on the coffee table, but the sink looked out over the open bar, completely visible from the living room. She came back with a bottle of lotion and applied it to his sore rump, spreading the lotion perfunctorily, a flowery scent rising. He clamped down on a sigh of relief, her cool hand and impersonal touch welcome in this instance.

Finished with the lotion, Vala leaned a hip against the counter and asked, "Will you use the dishwasher?"

"No," he said shortly, then, his still hot and tender butt clenching, amended hastily, "Um, no, _Vala_. It's not worth it. I usually just wash stuff by hand."

She nodded. "So practical, my Daniel."

When he finished, putting the last plate on the drain board and wiping his hands on a dishtowel, Vala stood and said, "Would you like a bath, darling? I know I would."

"I prefer showers. Vala."

She smiled. "What's wrong with the whirly-tub? Is it broken?"

"No..." he answered reluctantly. "I just don't have time for baths, Vala."

"Well, there's time today," she said decisively. "Come on."

 

 


	11. Bath-time Negotiations

 

Daniel stalled, folding the towel up and laying it flat on the counter. What exactly did Vala have in mind?

"It'll make your poor bottom feel better," she wheedled.

He glared, but thought better of arguing. He preceded her to the master bedroom and on into the master bath. Vala had grabbed her bag of rope tricks from the coffee table on the way through the living room and plopped it down on the vanity counter.

"Hmm, how shall we do this? Nothing fancy, I suppose. I'll just anchor you to the faucet shall I?"

He barely resisted a childish urge to mimic the rhetorical question, and remained silent.

The tub sat opposite the sinks in an alcove formed by the two walk-in closets to either side. Jack had talked him into getting an expensive whirlpool, telling him he'd be grateful for it when it came time to soak the next wound he received. But Daniel never bothered treating himself at home. He figured if he was healthy enough to be released from the infirmary, he didn't need any more therapy.

A large window filled the wall behind the tub, covered by a translucent shade which obscured the view of the backyard, but let in the light.

"Step in," Vala ordered.

He obeyed, standing in the empty tub and feeling like a fool. Quick and efficient, Vala took a length of rope from her bag and created another of that same kind of knot she'd been using for his wrists -a French bowline she called it? tying one end around one of his ankles, and the other end to the tub faucet. He took another look at the knots around his wrists, the four parallel lines of cord, snug but not painfully tight. She really knew what she was doing with all this bondage...stuff. He should be drawing her out, learning what he could about why she felt she had to do this.

And then talk her out of it.

"You're, uh, you're very good at tying people up, Vala," he said tentatively.

"Yes, I am," she said straightening up from tying off his leash at the faucet, leaving him about three feet of play. Not enough to step out of the tub. "You don't have to worry that I'll injure you, darling." She took one of his hands, tilting it back and forth to show off the cuff she had tied there. "You see how the restraint consists of four cords? That distributes the tension so the delicate tendons and blood vessels aren't compromised, and as I said before, it's a knot that will not constrict when you struggle. It's my job to keep you safe during your journey to self discovery."

"Um, yeah, thanks, Vala." He had absolutely nothing to discover about himself and the sooner she realized that the better. "But how did you learn all this? And where? I know you mentioned the Temple on Qadesh, but--"

She stroked his cheek with a knowing smile. "There may come a time this week when you've earned an answer to that. Right now, it's time to clean the tub."

He blinked at the suddenness of her change of topic. Vala went to the cabinet under the sink, crouching down and peering in. "I mean, really, darling, it's filthy. Have you _ever_ used it?"

He frowned, fidgeting as if she had the right to make him feel guilty about the upkeep of his own house. "I just said, I don't have time for baths," he mumbled, then remembered to add, "Vala."

She pulled out a pair of disposable gloves, an old bottle of spray cleaner and a decrepit dried up excuse of a sponge. "Well, if you had decent supplies, the job might go quicker." She helped him put the gloves on then handed him sponge and cleaner, and looked at him expectantly. "Get to it then."

He pursed his lips. "You need to release my hands," he demanded.

She tilted her head with puzzled frown. "I'm sure didn't hear what I thought I just heard."

"I--! Please, Vala, could you release my hands so I can do what you've asked?" If a little verbal crawling would get his hands loose, it would be worth it in the long run.

She crossed her arms, a smile growing. "No, darling, I don't think so. You have as much use of your hands as you need. I will, however, loosen the hobbling leash."

As he scowled she reached behind him to adjust the cord that held his balls captive, easing it as promised. Fine, so he'd clean the stupid tub. He turned away from her, surveying his task, taking a calming breath. "Okay, Vala," he said with a surfeit of patience. "We need to get the daddy-longlegs out first, please."

"The what?" she asked, betraying uncharacteristic surprise.

"The two spiders there. I need a paper plate and a cup to get them out of the way."

"Does your 'saving people' complex extend even to spiders, Daniel?" she asked, her tone teasing, but gentle.

He answered with as much dignity as he could muster under the circumstances, "Vala, I am perfectly capable of killing when needed, in defense of myself or others, but I will not kill as a matter of mere convenience, not even a bug."

She smiled with approval, almost...pride? "Point taken, darling. Well, I don't want to leave you alone long enough to get a plate and cup and then take them outside. How about we just chase them away out of the tub for now?"

"If you're not scared of them, Vala," he agreed with a shrug, then assured her, "They _are_ harmless."

She plucked some tissues from a box and shooed the spiders from their all but invisible webs. They walked slowly and methodically away on their fragile segmented legs, climbing the walls to seek quieter haunts up by the ceiling.

Cleaning the tub was ridiculously awkward. The knee pads helped, although they got soaked in the process, but even with the hobbling tie loosened, he had to keep his back scrupulously straight when kneeling, and his tied hands forced him to lean so close to the surfaces, he came close to face-planting on several occasions. However, the tub didn't really need in-depth cleaning: never having been used there wasn't a coating of soap scum or anything.

Vala had been sitting on the vanity, swinging her legs as she watched him clean. When he finished, she put the cleaning supplies away and directed him to sit in the tub on one of the built-in seats, shortening the rope tying him to the faucet to the point that standing would be difficult.

"Give me just a moment, darling, and I'll be back to get the water started." She entered one of the two walk-in closets, the one on the right that Daniel never used. "I've put my clothes and things in here, if you don't mind," she called as she went.

"Oh, be my guest, Vala," he called back sarcastically, shifting his naked rear uncomfortably. Trying to sit on the smooth but hard surface in such a way that the cords running overtop his anus didn't grind wasn't easy.

 _She_ had to get the water started? he scoffed internally. What was he, a toddler?

Wait, if she was in the closet--

He looked up hopefully, thinking he could make some headway in loosening the ties to his hands before she came back when he caught sight of the mirror. With the sink-vanity and its large mirror set on the wall opposite the tub and the closets, one only had to glance in that direction to see a full display of everything on this side of the bathroom. Sure enough, Vala stood in the closet looking straight at his reflection, a grin on her face as she unbuttoned her black leather slacks.

"Miss me, darling?" she asked, brows raised innocently high.

He stared a moment longer, captivated by a shimmering glimpse of pale pink panties being slowly revealed as Vala's fingers worked their way down the fly... Then he looked away abruptly, blushing as she began to inch the tight slacks off her full hips.

"Why are you--? What are you--?" he stammered. "Why are you undressing?"

"Relax, dear, I'm getting ready for the tub," she said. He heard the rustle of clothing, not daring to look again.

"The tub?" he repeated stupidly. "What for? Why...?"

"Why to help you, of course."

Oh, god. 'Help him?' _In the tub_?! He didn't think he could handle that. Her naked body pressed against his own, soapy and slick...

Even sitting on the cool fiberglass tub didn't stop him from breaking out in a panicked sweat. And even the panicked sweat didn't stop his cock from thickening with interest, rubbing against his bound balls as it twitched.

And then, oh god, there she was emerging from the closet...not naked but wearing...a swimsuit?

It was a modest one-piece suit, not particularly low-cut at the cleavage or high-cut at the legs, the shimmery fabric a dark charcoal grey complementing her eyes and highlighting the creamy tones of her skin.

He blinked. Vala was gorgeous and not naked and...gorgeous...

He cleared his throat, more relieved than he was willing to admit even to himself, but also incredulous. "You're modest?" he finally managed to blurt out. "You?"

"This is about getting you clean, darling, not about any titillation for me," she observed, pulling her hair up in a high ponytail. "But if you don't like the suit I could always take it off...?" Her offer trailed off as she tugged one shoulder strap down, a sparkle in her eye belying her seemingly innocent words.

"No! Don't take it off, you're gorgeous! I mean, the suit's gorgeous! I mean--!" He took a clearing breath. "You're right, Vala, I'd rather it this way. The suit's...okay." He tried to give a noncommittal shrug and, hoping to regain some dignity, said, "Of course, I'd rather you leave me the hell--um, leave me alone, but..."

"I think you should stop talking before you get yourself in trouble, dear," Vala remarked, flicking the drain-stop on and beginning to run the water.

"Right. Vala."

 

 

 


	12. Daniel Cleans Up Nicely

The water began to pool around Daniel’s feet at the base of the tub. After Vala confirmed the temperature was all right with him, she left it to blast out, placing shampoo and bar soap retrieved from the shower stall at one corner of the tub, along with a couple washcloths. She climbed in as the water filled the basin, perching on the edge until the tub was almost full, then turning off the water. Studying the whirlpool controls, she set the jets on the lowest power.

"How does that feel, Daniel?"

It felt really good, actually. The jets were soothing and the warm water lifted his weight, the discomfort of the ropes running between his butt-cheeks easing. "Oh, you know," he shrugged, refusing to admit she was right. "Pretty much like a whirlpool..."

She smiled as if she could read his mind, then slipped down into the water. "Oh my, that's lovely," she sighed.

Oh yes, that _was_ lovely... While the tub was roomy it wasn't really designed for two people and she floated right up beside him, the warm water bubbling and foaming under her chin, her eyes shining like grey slate after a morning rain, like a water nymph, like Venus rising from the waves--

Stop it, he ordered himself. Just because she's beautiful doesn't mean anything. Lots of people are beautiful. Lots of people who weren't in a bathtub with him...

"The rope is a nylon blend so it shouldn't swell up too much, but I'm going to loosen the bond on your testicles just to be safe." She suited actions to words and within seconds the restraint eased, her fingers like an extension of the probing water jets, surrounding and touching him so intimately, his cock swelling again.

The continuously popping bubbles sent a spray into the air just above the surface of the water, moistening and tickling his face. But it wasn't the bleach-tainted smell of the SGC's tubs that choked the back of his throat. Those tubs always reminded him of Hathor anyhow. This was much nicer.

There was a scent now, a scent that Vala brought with her, a scent she had always had, he realized suddenly, but intensified right now by the warm water. Fresh and light, earthy and honest, not a perfume at all, but Vala herself, her essence.

His nostrils flared as he breathed her in.

"I'm going to bathe you now," she announced, dipping a washcloth into the water then lathering it up with soap.

He should have felt like a child at bath time, but Vala's methods induced anything but childlike reactions.

She started at his shoulders and ran the cloth down each arm on the outer side, then up to his armpits. She leaned him forward and scrubbed at his back, then leaned him back again, lathering up his chest, passing the cloth over the ropes that crisscrossed his skin.

It shouldn't feel this good, it really shouldn't. Daniel had been given plenty of sponge-baths by the Infirmary nurses and hated every second of it. And Vala was good to her word: she wasn't teasing him, wasn't putting on a show like a porn star, wasn't doing anything suggestive. She was treating this like a job, a slight crease between her brows as she concentrated on each diamond of exposed flesh on his chest and belly. Her damp ponytail brushed his shoulders and nipples, her delicious scent coming and going, her lower lip caught between her white teeth as she conscientiously lathed his belly button. His dick stiffened to the point of pain, he could see it under the distortion of the water and flowing bubbles.

Working under the water now, she ignored his throbbing groin, thank god, only sparing him a sidelong smile, long lashes obscuring her grey eyes. She lifted each of his legs in turn, passing the cloth down one side and up the other, pushing the soaked and ruined kneepads off and onto the line anchoring him to the faucet.

Lathering up the cloth again, she ordered, "Lift up, darling."

Buoyant in the water, he let himself float up a few inches and Vala gently scrubbed his buttocks, going so far as to run the cloth under the rope ties and along his butt crack.

Blushing, he shut his eyes, voicing something that sounded suspiciously like a whimper as the nubby washcloth rubbed over his sensitive skin.

"Hush, sweetheart, I'm your Domme, I'm here to take care of you."

Vala lifted the cloth out of the water, squeezed it out and set it aside. Picking up the other washcloth she looked at him expectantly. "Do you use the same soap to wash your face?"

Daniel blinked, his brain trying to keep up with the conversation while half the blood in his body pooled in his cock. "Um... I--it--I just use water."

She pursed her lips in disapproval, and he watched the resulting dimples in dazed fascination. "Men," she sighed, then dipped the cloth down to soak it. She cupped the back of his head gently, coming very close to him, pressing her breasts against his upper arm and chest, and ran the warm cloth over his face, being careful not to get water in his eyes, nose or mouth as she went.

As she finished up the cloth caught a bit on his bristles and she said, "I saw an electrified shaving device by the sink. Is that what you use?"

"Uh...yeah. The shaver, yeah."

"I'll take care of that when we're finished here." Vala squeezed out and set aside the second cloth, now picking up the shampoo. "Sit up a bit, darling, and let me slide behind you."

Daniel obeyed automatically, feeling her full breasts and generous hips sliding behind and under him.

"Lay your head back," she ordered.

Obeying again he rested his head on one of her shoulders. As he idly watched one of the daddy-longlegs spin a new web in a corner of the ceiling, Vala lathered his hair, strong fingers massaging his scalp, and he finally, unwillingly, closed his eyes giving himself over to simply...feeling.

She finished up by sliding them both lower and letting the water lap away the foam from his hair in a bubbling fizz.

"Now there's just one last area to clean, my Daniel," she said softly, directly into his ear, her voice mixing with the bubbling of the water.

He was beyond any kind of response now and just lay there as she positioned herself more directly under him, and he rested fully upon her, his back to her front. She was almost as tall as he was and her breasts cushioned his shoulder blades as he relaxed, his buttocks cradled in the curve of her groin, a soft mound there pushing back against him.

She shifted a little and he could hear the gurgle and splash of Vala preparing the washcloth again, her arms crossing over his chest as she worked, her raised arms jostling him, rocking him...

Then her hands dove under the water and, one hand using the soapy cloth like a glove, the other bare, she grasped his rigid cock.

He bucked under her touch, arching up in the buoyant water. "Oh god!" he cried out hoarsely.

"Shh," she whispered into his ear, her lips pursed against his skin like a kiss, her strong arms holding him steady, containing him, cosseting him.

She passed the nubby cloth several times over the stiff rod of his cock and he thrust helplessly into her grip, stuttering moans catching in his throat, his hands pulling futilely at their leashes. Then, her bare hand still firm on his cock, Vala wrapped and dragged the cloth down over his taut balls--

And Daniel exploded, thrashing in the water like a sport fish on a line, arching time after time as he pumped into the bubbling jets, adding his own essence into the frothy mix. His mind whited out and he wasn't sure what he called out as he came, but he could hear a mental echo of his own voice as he blinked and gasped moments or minutes later, feeling like he was coming up for air after a time underwater, although he knew Vala had kept them both safe and sound in her strong capable arms.

Vala attended to him tenderly, passing the cloth gently, careful of the over-sensitive nature of his post-orgasmic groin, murmuring calmingly into his ear as he came down from his high.

"Sit still a moment, darling," she said, then slid out from under him. She unplugged the drain and turned off the whirlpool jets, stepping out of the bath and padding over to the shower. She took one of the bath towels that hung over the rack on the sliding glass door and wrapped it around her dripping body, tying it off just under her breasts. She grabbed another towel and, dragging the shower bath mat along with her, came back over to where Daniel still sat dazed in the emptying tub, just starting to get a little cold. She untied the cord anchoring him to the faucet at his ankle, helped him up and guided him out of the tub to stand a bit unsteadily on the mat.

With no regard for her own still dripping hair and swimsuit, she dried him off thoroughly, paying close attention to the areas under the ropes. His mind blank after the mind-blowing orgasm, he simply stood passively.

She directed him to step off the mat, led him the couple steps to the vanity then, dragging the mat over again, she said, "Kneel down now, Daniel, and I'll shave you."

He did want a shave, he thought absently, so he knelt down on the mat willingly enough. Vala was quick and efficient with the shaver. Next she retrieved more of the same lotion from her bag in the closet. "The rope will dry soon enough, but I don't want it chafing you. This will help."

She pumped several dollops of lotion to warm in her hands before rubbing him all over, paying special attention to the area of his neck under the damp dog collar.

It was rose, Daniel decided absently, the floral-scented lotion. Still passive and relaxed from the bath and orgasm, he knelt with eyes half closed, feeling her hands pass efficiently over his skin, expertly manipulating him, coating his body with a cream of her choosing, a scent of her choosing...

She finished off by fastening his ankles together and guided him from his upright kneel to sitting back on his heels, then she retreated into her closet. "Give me a moment to change, darling." He found himself watching her blankly in the mirror like before until, also like before, the mischievously smiling woman began to pull a strap off her shoulder and he came to, turning his head with a blush, looking quickly down at the mat beneath him.


	13. Telephone Tag

  
Vala changed back into the same clothes she had been wearing and announced, "Back into the Humbler for now, I'm afraid."

Daniel scowled, his lassitude dropping off markedly. "I don't want that thing," he muttered.

She smiled patronizingly. "So noted, Daniel. Now curl up tight and spread your legs."

He remained as he was for a moment, lips pursed, trying decide how he could possibly resist with his hands leashed to his chest and his ankles tied.

Vala laughed. "Pouting won't help, sweetheart," she observed with a condescending ruffle to his hair. "Do you want your poor rump to suffer for your stubbornness again?"

The stinging sensation at his ass was almost gone after the bath, but the memory was quite clear, and, with an affronted mutter of, "I don't pout," he reluctantly, and scowlingly, lowered himself down as ordered--

Only to jump and gasp as Vala delivered a quick swat to his behind with her hand. "Watch your attitude, darling," she warned, amusement lacing her voice.

He gulped, his satiated cock twitching with sleepy, and wholly inappropriate, interest. "Yes, Vala."

She untied the cord around his balls, his cock taking more and more interest, only to deflate in disappointment at the eye-watering tug and stretch that heralded imprisonment in the Humbler. After unleashing his hands and untying his ankles, she replaced his knee pads with two fresh socks and a couple folded washcloths.

Vala led him back into the living room, leaving him to crouch on the rug. She drew a new length of rope out of her bag and sat, beginning to knot, twist and wrap it into a shape. He watch the line of cord transform into a fat tight coil, a flexible little rod about four inches wide and almost an inch thick, the rest of the cord hanging off either end in lengths of two to or three feet.

She crouched down in front of him beside the coffee table, showing off her work to his uncomprehending eyes. "I'd never seen this gag before," she said. "On the inter-web they called it a 'bit' and said it was suitable for 'pony play,' whatever that is." She frowned at it with puzzlement for a moment then shrugged. "Really, the Tau'ri seem to have quite a lot of spare time on their hands..."

"A...a what?" he asked. "Did you say gag--?"

He had no sooner said it, than Vala did it: gagged him by slipping the coiled width directly into his mouth and pulling it snug, immediately tying it off behind his head.

Belatedly he reared his head back, much too late. Damn it! He was always at least three steps behind her. He shook his head, working his lips and tongue, but it was pointless. The thing wasn't moving. Vala had placed it too deep between his teeth to be pushed out, although the pressure at the corners of his mouth wasn't painful. He glared at his tormentor in frustration.

Vala made a sympathetic moue, stroking her fingers down his temple to cup his strained jaw. "I know, sweetheart. It's not fun, is it? But I need to be sure you keep quiet for the next few minutes. Later this week it won't be necessary, hmm? You'll be properly Tamed by then."

Daniel bit down on the rope in frustration, growling as he shook her hand away.

She only smiled and patted his head as she stood. "Be a good boy, now." She sat down comfortably on the couch and pulled her cell phone out. Checking the readout, she placed a call.

Daniel heard the ring tone, then Mitchell's voice answered, saying "Princess! How ya doin', girl?"

"Cameron, darling, sorry I missed your call, but I was otherwise occupied."

She adjusted the sound high enough that Daniel could hear both sides of the ensuing conversation. It was a long talk, friendly and easygoing. The kind he used to have with Jack or Sam, back in the old days. When he had needed stuff like that. They talked about Mitchell's vacation plans, referencing an earlier call from Sam that Vala apparently didn't catch, how Sam was in San Diego with her brother and family, and would call Vala later in the week. They talked about a lot of things Daniel hadn't known about, Mitchell's restoration of a '64 Mustang, Vala's opinion of some motorcycle TV show they were apparently watching together.

Mentioning his arrangements to go skiing in the nearby Arapahoe Basin area, Mitchell said, “I wish you could see the lodge I’m staying at, Princess, you’d love it. And the snow’s powder-perfect.” He paused and went on in a more sober tone, “I wanted to bring the whole team up, spend some time together, but Jackson...” Another pause while Daniel froze, holding his breath, teeth squeezing down on the bit in his mouth. There was a sigh and the colonel concluded, his voice filled with what sounded like honest regret, “He’s probably back at the SGC by now.”

Vala made a noncommittal murmur and Mitchell changed the subject, asking what Vala was doing this week off. When she claimed to be staying for a few days with a friend Mitchell seemed concerned until she assured him it was someone from the SGC, and the colonel backed off with a lascivious, "Don't do anything I wouldn't do, girl."

Vala laughed, then a beeping came from the phone. "Oh, gotta go, Cameron. Teal'c's calling."

"See ya next week, Princess."

Vala pressed a button, then said, "Muscles! I thought you were going to Dakara!"

"I am,Vala Mal Doran," came Teal'c's tinny voice, "however I am not leaving until tomorrow."

And again, the conversation went on, friendly and full of details of his teammates lives he had no knowledge of, and this time totally devoid of any mention of Daniel. Discretion, thy name is Teal’c, Daniel thought bitterly.

So the rest of the team typically spoke together like this? Seeking one another out?

Mitchell should’ve invited the rest of them skiing, what would it matter to Daniel? They were four friends, he was just...a teammate.

Eventually he heard the click of the closing phone and Vala's footsteps, the alien woman sitting cross-legged in front of him. Daniel huddled much smaller than the Humbler could account for, drool from his forced-open mouth soaking into the rug under his face. At that moment he felt about as low as he ever had.

Vala leaned over and stroked his head, carding his hair. "It's not that they don't _want_ to talk to you, sweetheart," she whispered.

Great. She was a mind reader now.

"They do," she continued. "They would love to hear your voice, have a conversation, spend time with you, listen to your advice. But they've learned better than to push you too far. The wall you've built is too high and too strong. No one can get through it and soon people will stop trying."

She untied the gag, easing it gently out of his mouth. She tilted his head up to wipe his wet chin with a kitchen cloth.

He kept his gaze lowered, unwilling to meet her eyes, making a conscious effort to relax his tight muscles into an insouciant pose. Fine, let them comfort each other. He didn't deserve it-- He shook his head in confusion. No, it wasn't that. It was that he didn't need it. Didn't need them.

He must have spoken out loud because Vala said, "I think you do need them."

Daniel shook his head stubbornly. "I don't. I don't need anyone's help."

"I know you think that, but I _am_ here to help you." She tilted his head up by the chin, forcing him to meet her serious eyes. "Even from yourself."

He frowned at her. _Vala_ was going to save him from himself? That was ridiculous and she knew it.

She pulled a tube of lip balm out from her supplies, applying it on him. "I don't want those beautiful lips to chap," she said. When she'd finished, she continued, "All right, enough lazing, darling. Time for more chores."

"Chores? What chores can I possibly do down on the floor like this? Vala."

"Hmm. Down on the floor..." She pretended to think for a moment then raised her finger in exaggerated epiphany. "I know! You could clean the floor!"

A snarky growl of "With what? A toothbrush?" escaped his mouth before he could stop it and his prominently placed butt once again paid the price.

"Oh darling," Vala sighed. "I know you can't help it, but you really must try harder to control that errant tongue of yours."

Rear end twitching under the sting, Daniel decided a little bit of obedience might be called for. "Yes, Vala."

"Good boy. Now come along, we'll start in the kitchen."

'We.' Right.

So clean the floor he did, starting in the kitchen with a bucket of warm sudsy water and a sponge. When that had been cleaned, rinsed and dried according to Vala's satisfaction, he started in the breakfast nook, using a bottle of hardwood floor oil-soap that had been given to him by the guy who installed the floor and never touched by Daniel since. He had to admit the floor really needed it; considering how infrequently he dined at home, he wouldn't have thought it could be that nasty, but it was.

Always hyper aware of his captured testicles, he had worked with his butt curled high, his knees tucked under him, and his head and chest as low as he could manage.

Finished at last, he laboriously and awkwardly push-shoved the dining table chairs back into place, inching the last chair along on the sparkling clean floor, escorting it in an ungainly shuffle.

He was glad to be done, he was hungry. Vala had judged their breakfast to have been so late in the day, that a sit-down lunch was not worth the effort, and all he'd had to eat since breakfast was a power bar to tide him over as he had finished the kitchen floor.

Daniel caught a strong whiff of the chicken breasts Vala was preparing on the stovetop and his stomach growled. Once again she had outmaneuvered him distressingly easily. A delivery man had come by an hour or so ago with groceries and Daniel hadn't even heard the knock at the door. The man was long gone by the time Daniel noticed Vala stacking up boxes and bags on the kitchen counter. She cheerfully informed him that she had used his laptop last night to order food from a grocery delivery service, assuring him she had gotten more food of the kinds already in his cabinets, along with eggs, chicken, fruits and vegetables she knew from experience that he liked.

Not sure what to do with the used cleaning supplies, Daniel nudged them along as he returned to the kitchen, leaving them to the side at the entry. He crouched for a moment, not really sure what to do with himself either.

"That's good, darling," Vala said, looking down at him with a pleased smile.

The tall woman stood at the stove, her stiletto heels raising her to even greater heights. Huddled with his face just inches from the floor, he felt like a worm gazing up at a goddess.

"When you're waiting for direction, come into my presence and abase yourself in whatever position is appropriate to the bonds you're wearing at the time."

'Into my presence'? _Abase_? He pursed his lips, a hundred sarcastic rejoinders tumbling through his head.

Hearing a rhythmic smacking sound he looked up to see Vala tapping a large wooden serving spoon onto the palm of one of her hands, observing him with grin. "What did I say about pouting, sweetheart?"

He tried to wipe the expression from his face, but his irritation only intensified it. It wasn't a pout, damn it! It was...a pursed-lipped look of stern disapproval.

Two swift steps on Vala's part and a whistling crack from the wooden spoon later, the expression was quite definitely gone, replaced by a remorseful wince.

"I'm almost sorry to discourage it, darling. You look simply charming when you pout, but you need to learn to control your attitude." She had hunkered down in front of him and lifted up his chin with the fingers of the hand that still held the spoon. "Understood, sweetheart?"

"Yes, Vala," he replied, losing himself in the steel-grey of her eyes, drinking in her enchanting smile as she studied his face, the stinging pain somehow mixing in with the sight of her beauty and confidence, his body's usual traitorous reaction confusing him.

"Good boy," she said softly, stroking her fingers along his temple before rising. "Now, behave and I'll have dinner on the table in just a moment."

Of course, dinner 'on the table' only meant Vala. Daniel's was on the floor again, set on a placemat at least. Okay, fine, he was getting used to that. He was so hungry and his stomach growled so loud, maintaining his usual 'I'm not hungry' fiction was out of the question. The food was nothing fancy but it looked and smelled divine: chicken strips sautéed to perfection in a spicy simmer sauce, his favorite veggies: green beans, mushrooms and onions, not too firm, not too soggy, all of it on a generous bed of steaming hot couscous. Yes, it was perfectly divine.

Except that she had precut his meat and even the vegetables, giving him a spoon to eat with, like he was a toddler or something.

Petulant once again, he picked up the spoon with a huff, plowing it through the food. God, his moods really were out of control, Vala actually had a good point--

Wait! What was he thinking? She didn't have a point, the only thing out of control around here was Vala herself.

After he'd eaten enough to take the edge off his hunger, he tilted his head up at her where she sat at the table. "So, does this remind you of your time as Qetesh?" he asked not bothering to hide the sarcastic bite of his voice, waving his spoon around to indicate his position relative to hers. "Having me crawling around on the floor like this? _Abasing_ myself to your every whim?"

She raised a brow, wiping her mouth with a napkin before answering calmly, "Yes, it does and that stopped me for a long time. But I'm beyond that now. You helped me to see beyond that."

He shook his head silently, completely clueless of what she was talking about.

"Some things are more important. _You_ are more important."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

She reached down to gently card his hair. "Daniel, darling, you need to calm down and think before you speak. I've been quite lenient so far, this being your first full day of Training. I’ve told you you're not allowed to ask questions without permission. You've asked four. You addressed me twice without proper respect. You used coarse language. You're being rude. That's eight strokes."

Crap. He dropped his spoon back into his dish, appetite lost.

Above him, Vala sighed. "Darling, I won't punish you until after you've finished eating. And I want you to eat, I know you're still hungry."

He crouched frozen, not wanting to eat, but not sure what he could say or do without racking up more strokes.

She continued in a wheedling tone, "Perhaps, if you're a good boy and clean your plate, I'll tell you one of those stories of my past you wanted to hear."

Daniel glanced up, checking Vala’s expression. She didn't look angry, quite the opposite. Well, he _was_ curious and he _should_ be gathering information... And his stomach was still pretty empty. "Um...okay, I-- I mean, yes, please, Vala." He made a show of picking up his spoon again.


	14. Vala Tells a Story

 

"Let me tell you about the first time I saw a qedesha," Vala said, waiting pointedly until Daniel ate a bite before beginning.

Daniel swallowed his mouthful, remembering that ‘qedesha’ were like clergy, if a bit more, um, _orgiastic_ than the modern equivalent.

"The town I was born in was very small, located out on the edge of the city of Qadesh's influence. One year we had an epidemic, an outbreak of influenza that overwhelmed our local Healer. I was perhaps ten years old at the time and my stepmother insisted I stay in the courtyard of our house. I, however, had other ideas. No one had fallen sick in over a day and I was bored."

Ah yes, 'bored,' Vala Mal Doran's justification for just about anything.

"Besides, the barley bread baking in the big oven was too hot." She sniffed with disapproval. "So I climbed the courtyard walls and sat on top to get a breath of fresh air. I liked the view from up there. Our house sat at the edge of town and I liked watching the birds dive around the trees in the woods. I had my spindle and was trying to see how thin I could spin wool."

Vala smiled, eyes unfocused as she relived her memory, unconsciously twirling her green bean laden fork as if it were a spindle. Daniel could almost see her back then, a scrawny little girl, head a mass of unruly black curls, dirty dress and scabs on her knees.

"That's when I saw them, coming into town along the main road." Vala’s smile blossomed, eyes brightening. "They were on foot, a man and a woman. I had never seen the like before. They both wore pale creamy tunics; even travel-stained the fabric was whiter than any I'd ever seen. The woman's tunic and cloak were trimmed with sky blue ribbon, and the man's with a deep crimson. That was unusual enough to get me off the wall and chasing after them." She paused. "Hmm, it's possible that my stepmother called out for me, but..." She shrugged. "I was busy."

Daniel couldn't stop a snort, covering when Vala glanced at him by shoving a spoonful of food into his mouth.

"I asked them their names and the woman introduced herself as Nikkal, the man as Eser. I was enthralled. They were...so much _more_ than the common folk. Nikkal told me they were qedesha from the Temple in Qadesh, come to help minister to the sick. I led them to the Healer's compound which served as the town's infirmary. I hovered around them for hours at a time over the next several days." She shook her head ruefully. "I couldn't keep my eyes off them. They moved with such confidence and self-assurance, working together without any need for words, always aware of one another, calm and focused, seamless, trusting. Eser was a skilled Healer and Nikkal kept a sharp watch over him, never straying far. I wished that someday I could find someone to partner with like that."

Vala's tone was so wistful that Daniel felt a twinge of...sympathy? No, he couldn't afford that. Vala was the enemy now.

"For all the time I spent watching them I should've gotten a thrashing.” She smirked. “If my stepmother'd been able to catch me."

Daniel hid a smile behind his water glass.

"Of course the lack of a thrashing could also have been because I ended up catching the influenza myself."

Daniel glanced up in alarm, then pointedly looked down again. Obviously Vala had recovered or she wouldn’t be here annoying him right now.

"Eser nursed me through, which pleased me no end. I'm sure I got sick in the first place because I wouldn't leave the poor man alone. I was drawn to him. He was so kind and he had such lovely hazel eyes. I peppered him with questions constantly, but he always had time for me, it was like he couldn't say no. Nikkal had to run me off more than once.

"Well, the influenza ran its course," Vala continued, "and in the end we lost far fewer people than we would have if the qedesha had not come.

"When the last patient was on his feet, the town Elders begged the qedesha for a blessing before they returned to the City and the two consented, holding a divine liturgy, a ceremony promoting health and good fortune. In the alcove of the town's small altar, the qedesha purified themselves and Nikkal took Eser deep within herself, riding his manhood in the light of the setting sun, worshipping the Goddess in a sacred act of sexual pleasure."

Daniel choked on the mouthful of chicken he had the misfortune to have been eating at that moment, his face flaming at the mental image Vala's words brought.

"Of course children and the uninitiated weren't supposed to attend," Vala observed, then added dryly, "Equally of course, I did. I wouldn't have missed it for anything. Nikkal's bare breasts shining in the sun, the ecstasy on Eser's face..." Vala voiced a satisfied sigh. "They were beautiful."

That didn't sound like any church service Daniel had ever been to... He gulped the last of his chicken down.

"The next day they prepared to leave. This displeased me greatly." Vala's eyes shone with humor at the understatement. "I was geared up to throw an epic temper tantrum, demanding that Eser never ever leave me, but he headed me off before I really got going. He knelt down in front of me, took my hand and touched it to his own forehead. He said he expected he'd see quite a bit of me someday soon, and he shared a smile with Nikkal that I didn't understand at the time." Vala drained her drinking glass and began to pile her utensils on her plate. "Then they left and I went back to my drum-hum life."

Daniel slowly chased down the last few grains of his couscous, realizing with disappointment that Vala's story was over. And it didn't really explain anything, although it did raise approximately a thousand more questions, which he was now burning to ask but, for fear of incurring more punishment, was too afraid.

Vala seemed to notice his squirming and said with a smile, "One question, darling."

He grimaced but managed a neutral, "Thanks," as he considered what to ask. Something inoffensive but maybe spurring another story. "Um, did you ever meet Eser again after all?"

Vala nodded, however she only said, "I did, but that can be a tale for another time."

Daniel frowned as he took his final bite. He wasn't actually sure what the point of her story was. Nikkal and Eser were qedesha, fine, but what about that whole Dominant/submissive angle Vala'd been harping on? Was there some significance to the different colored trim on their tunics? Were they two Doms of different rankings? Or was Daniel supposed to believe Eser was a submissive? That was clearly impossible, Vala said the man was a skilled healer, a submissive couldn't achieve something like that. Just like Daniel couldn't be a sub. He was a triple doctorate for god's sake, hardly some cringing needy little wimp.

"Was the food to your liking?"

Daniel blinked at the sudden topic change. "Yes. Vala." He realized belatedly he had never thanked her for the meal. "Um, thank you, Vala, it was really good."

She rewarded him with a beaming smile that took his breath away. "You're very welcome, sweetheart."

He blinked into the light of that megawatt smile. If he could just do things that pleased her, that caused her to smile at him that way...

"Time to change out of the Humbler," Vala announced brightly. "Will you submit to your testicle hobble, darling, or do we have to have another wrestling match?"

He shook his head clear it. No, he couldn't fall for her, he wouldn't. Daniel Jackson was not _submissive_. But...there was no use making things harder for himself. "Yes, Vala. I mean, no, no wrestling match."

"Not that wrestling with you is such a bad thing..."

Daniel made sure she wasn't looking as he rolled his eyes.

He followed her to the living room where with a teasing smile she held up the rope leash from earlier as if modeling it for an infomercial. Vala proceeded as she had that morning, switching out the enforced crouch of the Humbler for the enforced upright posture of the rope and soon enough he knelt as before, leashed hands and all.

"You're pleasing me very much with your cooperation right now, sweetheart." Vala cupped his cheek with one hand and his bound testicles with the other.

He looked at her hopefully, torn between shame at his capitulation to even momentary obedience and the desire that her hand at his groin might lead to something more.

"However, you owe me eight strokes for your previous misbehavior."

Crap. He'd forgotten.

"Devu ja, Daniel," she said, mangling the French expression. "Kneel where you did last time and tell me why you're about to receive eight paddle strokes to your buttocks." She picked up the paddle from the coffee table.

Yes, deja vu indeed. He shuffled slowly over to the arm of the couch, as if drawing it out would help, face flaming with humiliation, racking his brain for a way out of this, knowing there wasn't.

"I, um--” Daniel began, voice low with shame. “Vala, I, um, I asked four questions without permission. I was rude. I... Um, I didn't address you respectfully two times. And... I...uh..." He clutched the couch arm, almost panicky. What was the other one? Would she give him extra punishment for forgetting? "I can't remember! Damn it!"

The amusement clear in her voice, Vala drawled, "It was coarse language, Daniel."

" _Shit_! I mean--! God! I'm sorry, Vala! I didn't mean to say that, I didn't mean to forget--!"

"Shh, it's okay, Daniel." She caressed her hand down his back, her fingers thrumming over the taut ropes binding his torso. "It'll be just eight. You're still learning. This will help you learn control. And don't forget to count, darling."

He barely had a second to slump slightly in relief before the first spank cracked across his butt and he arched with a bitten off yelp. There was a pause filled with his gasping breath... Crap, he needed to count! Panicked anew, he burst out, " _One_! _One_!"

"Good boy."

He wouldn't have thought it possible to hurt worse than it had in the morning, but it did. Probably because he was still sore. But eventually he reached the desperate, blessed, yelping count of "Eight!" following by halting huffs of relief.

God, he couldn't put up with many more of these sessions. He couldn't let her think that she'd won, that she was right, that he was a submissive. But he needed to be more clever about his resistance. And damn it all to hell, _why_ was his cock throbbing like that?

"Ah, my poor stubborn Daniel." Vala ran her hand lightly over his butt, her fingers cool and dry against his sweaty, flaming cheeks.

He arched involuntarily at her touch, grinding his stiff penis against the couch.

"Huh uh, darling," Vala chided with amusement. "No humping the furniture. Back off a step or two."

Face burning hotter than ever, Daniel shuffled obediently back. As soon as he had made space, Vala settled herself down, sitting directly in front of him, leaning comfortably back against the couch. Daniel arched again with a gasp as she took hold of his jutting cock and proceeded to play with it absentmindedly as if it were merely something to occupy her hands with during an SGC briefing.

"Now tell me again why you were punished," she asked as if prompting an errant child into a tale of his wrongdoing.

He took a breath, barely managing to stop a moan. Feelings of pain from his butt and pleasure from his cock whirled together, both the doing of the woman into whose deep grey eyes he gazed. "I... Vala, I was rude and disrespectful and used bad language and asked questions out of turn."

She smiled approvingly. "Much better, sweetheart."

Hope rose again, his hips beginning to twitch along with his cock.

Vala's smile grew, but she said, "Chore time again, I'm afraid."

 

 

 


	15. In Which Another Day Ends and Daniel Still Hasn’t Figured Out What to Do

  
Daniel groaned at the withdrawal of Vala’s hands, but she only laughed, helping him to his feet and aiming him at the kitchen.

It took a couple painful bumps, but eventually his cock subsided enough for him to get to the sink with his foreshortened arms and wash the dishes.

Next came laundry. He striped the bed with mincing steps, leaning over with back arched and butt prominent, stinging and twitching every time he stretched the tender skin too far or the ropes chafed, despite the lotion that Vala had reapplied. He gathered wet towels from the bathroom, laboriously kneeling to reach the ones on the floor and climbing back to his feet again. The washer and dryer were in a little alcove outside the master bedroom in the short passageway to the garage entrance. When the washer was loaded and running, he remade the bed with clean sheets and blankets, irritated to think that he probably wouldn't be using it, and placed fresh towels in the bathroom.

Vala supervised everything, following him around as he went. She must have gotten a copy of the current issue of Cosmopolitan magazine along with the grocery delivery. She thumbed the pages as she went, leaning against wall or doorway, sometimes perching on a convenient piece of furniture. Occasionally she read some tidbit aloud, usually about celebrities he'd never heard of and couldn't care less about, or ridiculous household or fashion hints.

Daniel responded as much as he felt he needed to, he didn't want to be accused of disrespect or impoliteness. But he found himself wanting to give more than terse answers, to laugh at the silliness with her, to be free and easy with Vala, like Mitchell and Teal'c seemed to be, to be more to her than Mitchell or Teal'c...

He berated himself sternly. He couldn't allow that. That would be giving in. He needed to remember that what was going on here was wrong. He clamped down on any but the most basic responses, his mood souring.

It was dark by the time the chores were complete. Vala directed them back to the living room, ordering Daniel to kneel beside the couch at one end of the coffee table. She guided him through the difference between 'kneeling back' (sitting back to rest on your heels, what the Japanese would call sitting seiza) and 'kneeling up' (kneeling up at attention, your body in a straight vertical line from knees to head).

Leaving him kneeling up, she set her Cosmopolitan aside for the moment, riffling through the magazines Daniel kept in a tall stack in a basket by the couch. "Hmm," she murmured, and began to flip through them, reading off the names, "Smithsonian, Science, Journal of Egyptian Archeology, Bulletin of Anthropological Research and...Psychology Today? Daniel, why the psychology magazines?"

"Well, Vala," he said, not bothering the hide the irritation that rose at the reminder, "I believe the SGC decided, why pay an actual negotiator or diplomat when they had me?" When Vala laughed, Daniel frowned and amended out of a sense of fairness, "Occasionally SG-9 steps in when I'm not available."

"You _are_ truly valuable, darling," Vala agreed. Then she patted his head and said, "You've been working hard today. Now kneel back at rest and keep me company." She opened up her Cosmopolitan and began reading to herself again.

So Daniel rested, relatively comfortable, the ever-present tug on his balls not so bad, only a slight burn where his still-sensitive butt cheeks pressed against his heels. Not like he could actually sit in a chair at the moment anyhow. Several minutes passed in silence. He began to frown. Okay, _Vala_ was occupied, but what the heck was Daniel supposed to be doing? He wouldn't have guessed that one could get bored sitting stark naked and tied up at the feet of one's kidnapper, but boredom was what he felt at the moment.

"Um..." he began, then stopped. Okay, tread carefully here, he told himself. "Vala, may I ask a question?"

She continued reading a moment, Daniel fidgeting, before she deigned to give him a serious glance. "You just did ask a question, Daniel. Without permission, I might add."

Okaaay, apparently not careful enough, he thought, his ass clenching with dread. But how was he supposed to...? Right, he could do this, he was a linguist after all. He swallowed and tried again. "Vala, please, I have a question I'd like to ask."

She looked at him fully, smiling. "Better, sweetheart. You may ask your question."

Again with the brilliant smile reducing him to staring. "Oh. Uh, can I have--?" He forgot for a second what his question even was. He rallied. "I mean, Vala, may I please have a book to read?" God, that sounded so stupid and subservient, begging for a book in his own house, but he wasn't used to being bored.

"Very polite, darling, but the answer is no," she said, already turning back to her magazine. "You need to concentrate on your training right now."

'No'? He couldn't believe it. He was playing _her_ damn game! What more did she want?

Vala lifted the magazine high, twisting it this way and that to get the best view of what looked like some red-carpet celebrity dressed in a flowing gown. She offhandedly added, "Maybe later, once you've earned my trust." She lowered the magazine back down to her lap, going back to her reading.

Daniel fumed in silence. She wasn't supposed to deny him if he obeyed the rules. And she wasn't supposed to be ignoring him! She was supposed to be paying attention to him, talking to him. He should be the center of her attention, damn it! All those times earlier today when he just wanted her to leave him alone flew out of his head. It wasn't even like he wanted to work his bonds loose, he knew that was hopeless, but... He just wanted her to look at him...

Desperate, Daniel shifted ever so slightly, then froze. She hadn't said it, but he knew instinctively moving once placed into position was a spanking offense. His cock began to fill. Why, he had no idea. He'd given up even trying to understanding that particular piece of his anatomy. It seemed to be in league with Vala...

Eyes still on the magazine page, Vala reached an absent hand out to ruffle his hair. "You're being a very good boy right now," she remarked, then she glanced over at him.

There! That was it, her eyes, deep and rich, piercing him, _seeing_ him...

She turned back to the magazine, removing her hand from his head to turn a page.

No, this was wrong, this wasn't him, this was brainwashing, pure and simple.

 _Really?_ a snarky voice in his head asked, a voice that seemed to be in league with Vala and his cock. _Brainwashing? After a day and half?_

Yes. So shut up.

All parts of him, even his cock, subsided after that, and he waited there at Vala's stiletto-heeled shoes for what seemed like hours. He had lowered his eyes, refusing to look at her, trying not to even think about her. Between the lack of coffee, the unusual activity and the two spankings, he found himself struggling to keep his eyes open, his blinks drawing out longer and longer until he came to with a startled gasp at the touch of Vala's hand on his cheek.

"Bedtime, sweetheart."

She helped him up and into the bathroom, standing him at the sink while she brushed his teeth, then holding his penis as he urinated into the bowl, same as he had been doing all day. He was too sleepy to be terribly embarrassed, however at Vala's touch his cock woke up fast and hard, blood deserting his already slow brain to leave him almost woozy. She solicitously guided him to his little sleeping nest on the floor at the base of the bed, stroking him as she removed the hobble-leash, laying him down flat and binding his wrists and ankles, Daniel too drowsy to think of escape attempts.

"What were you thinking, sweetheart?" Vala asked running a hand up his stretched legs. "While you knelt at my feet?"

Her hand arrived at the stiff flesh of his cock, free of all restraint now and throbbing, and Daniel groaned, arching from head to heels. Thinking? That was something he usually did, right? He had been thinking earlier, something...oh yeah. "I...I wanted you to look at me, Vala. Talk to me..." he whispered in a low sigh.

Vala smiled and leaned down to gaze directly into his eyes. "I'm looking at you now, my Daniel."

Yes, those eyes, that was what he wanted, dark grey pools deep enough to swim in, to swim for days searching for the shore until you realized you didn't want to find the shore, you wanted to stay forever, submerged forever...

He was climaxing before it even registered, cresting and riding a strong wave, curling and foaming, rolling on and on, struggling to keep sight of those eyes, carried along into the depths slumber at last.

o-0-o

Vala wiped the softly snoring man clean with a warm damp cloth and secured him to the foot of the bed as she had last night. She crouched at his side for a long while, tracing his face with light fingertips, before covering him with a blanket and kissing him on the forehead.

"Goodnight, my Daniel."


	16. A Trip to the Bathroom Proves Problematic

Vala woke early Tuesday morning not quite sure what to expect from her sub. She'd gone to bed not much later than him last night, taking a quick shower when she was sure he had passed into the deepest stage of sleep.

She had shown Daniel the barest glimpse of the structure of a Dom/sub relationship, but the poor confused man had so many preconceptions and false assumptions bouncing around that genius brain of his, Vala wasn't sure which way he would jump today.

Perhaps an epiphany? An intelligent self-appraisal and open-minded reassessment of his life?

Hmm... Unlikely.

More stubborn resistance, then?

She sighed as she opened the washing machine, transferring the wet laundry to the drier. Yes, stubborn resistance was much more likely.

And that was indeed the case, Vala soon discovered. As she had the day before, she enticed Daniel awake with the scent of a fresh pot of coffee, but no cooperation was forthcoming. At breakfast, when instructing him to carry their plates of waffles to table and floor, the sub stared at her with incredulous contempt.

"You want me to serve you your meal, Vala?" he asked in disbelief, continuing in a voice dripping with sarcasm, "I thought you were supposed to be training me as a _sub_ , not a butler."

Well, he _had_ remembered to address her politely. "Daniel, that's two infractions, rudeness and asking a question without permission."

His eyes dropped as that delicious blend of rebellion and submission fought over his expressive features.

"Additionally, while yesterday's misdeeds cost you one spank each, today's are two."

He briefly flashed his gaze up to hers before lowering his eyes and biting his lip nervously. "Yes, Vala." Ah yes, submission would always win out over rebellion when it came to her sweet confused boy.

She took pity on him, stroking a finger along his shoulder. "I will let this pass with a warning. Now be a good boy and follow my instructions."

When he'd awoken, his eyes had lingered for a long time on the skin exposed by her off-the-shoulder black knit shirt, eventually skimming down her body to take in her snug brown denim leggings. Now he contented himself with a forlorn study of her well-worn high-heeled leather boots as he crouched on the floor eating his blueberry waffles.

After breakfast Daniel's Guiding continued, Vala instantly rewarding the slightest instance of cooperation with soft caresses, training him in various positions of kneeling and standing, service of food or coffee, and yet more floor cleaning in the Humbler. A single infraction was dealt with immediately by hand, something calling for more than four strokes typically required the paddle. So far today, however, he had behaved just well enough to avoid the paddle. Barely.

The morning passed with her reluctant submissive vacillating between two extremes, longing looks followed by avoided glances, obedient cooperation alternating with childish obstruction, respectful words followed almost immediately by rude comments and hostile frowns.

Whenever Daniel thought Vala was looking, he would scowl. But when he forgot he was supposed to be angry, supposed to be the big strong manly man, a look of confusion and loneliness came over his face. A look more naked and revealing than any mere lack of clothing, an anxious crease between his thick brows, his eyes wide with introspective blinking.

He was totter-titting wildly.

Right before noon, Vala had him run for thirty minutes on the treadmill in the bedroom followed by a lunch of avocado and veggie sandwich wraps with chips and fruit on the side. She cut hers in half, thinking one wouldn’t be enough for the hard-working man. She was right, he ate all of his and her half, giving her a sullen thank you when he'd finished.

After kitchen cleanup, Vala brought him to the bathroom, helping him to urinate as usual, then she said, "Darling, I couldn't help noticing you haven't had a bowel movement in the entire time I've been here."

Daniel blushed so hard he was rendered speechless.

"Two days without evacuating your bowels is not healthy, so I'll be helping you along with an enema."

"No!" he blurted out, his blush deepening and spreading in a most charming fashion down his neck and over his smooth hairless chest. "You--you can't--! I won't--! Just--just--! No!"

"Darling, I will overlook that display, but the fact remains, for the sake of your health, I will be taking care of you."

Vala’s own Trainer had taught her well, all those years ago: taking control of a sub's personal bodily functions was the fastest way to accustom him to a Dom's rule. She'd already started the process, helping him urinate, brushing his teeth and so on. This was just the next step. Her culture attached no great significance to privacy in the movements of one's bowels, but she knew Daniel's did. Therefore, she would deny him this.

She had gotten an enema kit from the SGC's Infirmary and she retrieved it from her closet now, spreading it out on the vanity. Daniel, clad only in karada and testicle hobble, knelt huddled in on himself, staring blankly at the floor. He was shutting down, which of course was her cue to distract and annoy him into interacting.

"Really, darling," Vala called over her shoulder as she assembled the hose. "Intimate loss of control combined with involuntary sexual stimulation? What's not to like?"

Daniel stiffened in anger, twisting his head to glare up at her. _There_ was her combative little boy.

She delivered her coup-de-grace in a speculative drawl: "You're as modest as a teenaged virgin..."

"I am _not_ a virgin!"

"I didn't say you were, darling, but you never grew up as sexual being." Preparation finished, she hunkered down to face him, placing a placating hand to his flushed face. "That's because you never acknowledged your true sexuality. So in this area, you are still a child in many ways." She fingered his burgeoning penis. "Not in this way," she smirked.

He tried to physically shy away. That was useless of course, so he tried to get upper hand verbally. "Oh so you're a psychologist now."

Equally useless of course, but she considered the comment as a serious observation rather the spiteful misdirection it was. "No, I don't have nearly enough education for that, but I was trained and apprenticed for several years as a qedesha, learning to read human nature and evaluate motives and methods. Did you think I had no education at all?"

"I... No, Vala, of course not," he admitted reluctantly. Daniel’s sense of fairness always won out in the end.

Vala smiled. "All right, sweetheart, cooperate with me now and we'll see if we can avoid a spanking, hmm?"

He frowned, but cooperate he did.

First came the leg bindings. She stood Daniel up and lashed his ankles together, making sure he stood close enough to the vanity that he wouldn't lose his balance, only then removing his hobble. Like the torso harness, Vala had a leg-sleeve karada pre-knotted and ready to go. She anchored it to the base of the harness at Daniel's rump, passing it down to the ankle catch and back up at his front, bypassing his lovely genitalia on the way, his breath quickening involuntary. She made short work of pulling the loops out, busy fingers fastening his binding into snug diamond shapes, pinning his legs together fast.

Next came the sleeve for his arms. She released the double leash which held his hands to his chest, lashing his wrists together behind his back, then working a rope web just like the ones on his legs and torso, his arms gradually pulled back, fastened tight and taut, his chest pushed to prominence as a result.

Vala stepped back to admire her work.

Daniel stood covered in a web of rope, helpless, his eyes wide and wild, pupils blown in involuntary arousal, all of him contained and constrained by her clever knots, all save his manhood which stood erect and eager.

"Oh my darling, if only you could see yourself as I do..." Vala whispered. Her Domme sensibilities were provoked, a warmth beginning in her belly, spreading downwards to throb in her crotch, leaving her swollen and slick. She steadfastly ignored it, reminding herself of her duty.

With gentle hands, she guided the submissive man to lay face down on the bathroom floor, helping him inch backwards to the shower stall. She curled him up straddling the sill, his legs in the stall, his upper body out, folding a towel for him to use as a pillow. Leaving him for a quick minute, Vala got a large stock pot and a container of sea salt from the kitchen, also setting the leftover coffee from the morning to reheat.

Back in the bathroom, she ran water in the sink, checking the temperature with her inner wrist. When it was warm enough, she let the water run over a bar of soap and into the enema bag, adding a little salt when it was full.

Looking over her huddled sub as she worked, Vala noticed he was trembling, his bound hands fisted at the small of his back, eyes blinking anxiously. He'd be limp and relaxed in just a few moments, but she thought it wise to soothe his nerves right now.

"So you know why we add salt to the water, Daniel?" she asked. He answered in an unintelligible mumble, which Vala counted as good enough. "It's to prevent the absorption of too much water by the colon. The salt brings the water solution in balance with your body fluids."

His hands still lay fisted, but the blinking and trembling had slowed, that big brain distracted into a meditation on the salinity factor of the human body.

Attaching the tubing and crimping the line shut, Vala stepped over Daniel and into the stall, hanging the bag from the shower head. She kept up a running commentary as she went and, using a dab of vaseline to ease things, she matter-of-factly inserted the tubing. Daniel jumped and gasped, but when Vala uncrimped the line and began to slowly let the warm water enter into the tense man, he began to calm almost immediately.

Vala sat on the shower stall's built-in seat, monitoring the enema and her charge. His hands relaxed, fingers unfurled and loose now, his breathing deepening and evening out. She kept a close watch on his abdomen, massaging to avoid the cramping the swelling often brought. His penis swelled along with his stomach, but that she didn't massage.

When the bag had mostly drained, Vala crimped the line closed. "I'm going to remove the hose now, sweetheart," she announced. "I want you to hold yourself tight for a few minutes, then I'll let you release."

Daniel squirmed as he waited, and not just from the effort of holding the fluid in. Eyes staring blankly, he rubbed his stiff penis against the ropes crisscrossing his own thighs, soft moans catching in the back of his throat.

With a grin, she gave him a light smack to the rump. "None of that now, darling."

When it was time, Vala put the big pot in place under his rear end in the shower stall and came around to Daniel's front. Levering the bound man up into a crouch and ordering him to expel into the pot, Vala made a point of looking him in the face: he had no choice but to face her as she exercised this intimate control over his body and he blushed a delightful shade of red.

Rewarding him with a bright smile, Vala praised the dazed submissive, before returning him to his crouch.

"Let's rinse you clean now, darling."

Keeping up a constant patter so he couldn't withdraw into his own mind, making him respond to keep him in the moment, Vala administered a new enema, having refilled the bag with no soap this time. As he held the water, she emptied the first potful into the toilet, then helped him void again, his dazed gaze fixed on her at all times.

"Now a special treat," she announced as she laid Daniel down once again. She retrieved the warm coffee from the kitchen, bringing the carafe into the bathroom.

"Can you smell that, darling?"

"Coffee, Vala?" he asked after a long pause, his voice all but slurring.

"So many different kinds of enemas recommended on the computer-web," she mused. "The one called a Golden Enema I didn't even understand. But I wanted this one to reward you for being a good boy. You won't ask for it in the morning to drink, because you're so ridiculously stubborn, too stubborn for your own good really. But apparently drinking's not the only way to consume coffee, or even the best way if you're to believe the inner-net."

She made short work of this last session, and before too long Daniel lay inert, heavy eyelids blinking slowly, his manhood still thick.

Vala began the bath water, going to the closet to change quickly into her bathing suit. She returned to help Daniel inch out of the shower stall. Kneeling him up, she removed the karada arm sleeve, sliding it off easily once the upper anchor was untied. She retied his hands to the same leashes hanging from the double-coin chest knot and stood him up very carefully. He was still passive and subdued by the experience, even the 'buzz' from the coffee only serving to make him alert but not frantic. Concerned he might lose his balance, she directed him to lean his hands against the wall as she unfastened his ankle tie, then the upper anchor, sliding the karada leg sleeve off whole. She set the loose jumble of rope in a pile with the arm sleeve. She would untangle and wash them later.

The tub full, Vala turned off the bath water and guided the passive man in. She didn't bother tying him to the faucet or reapplying the testicle hobble, her relaxed boy wasn't going anywhere she didn't want him to right now. Then, oh joy of joys, she washed him, thoroughly, from top to bottom. Oh those needy little gasps and moans he was unable to suppress, all that smooth skin and contoured hard masculine muscles, the way he trembled the closer she came to his rigid and straining manhood, his disappointed moan when she continued on past and down his legs.

Daniel was overwhelmed, the tenseness from yesterday missing, but she wasn't foolish enough as to think she had Tamed him quite this soon or this easily. The enemas had thrown him off balance, but the snarky Dr. Jackson would be back before long, she knew it.

So...just for now, she would slip under him, support him, hold him, feel his warm solid mass; give him what she knew he needed and wanted but wouldn't admit. She combed her fingers though the soft thatch of his pubic hair, slipped her hand up to take the thick veiny pole of his poor neglected penis...

Just for now, she could indulge for a moment, fantasize that he was hers and she was his. That he truly belonged to her, not just his body as a sub belongs to his Domme, but more than that, his soul...as a man belongs to a woman and she to him...

As lovers.

Vala’s hand twisted and clenched on Daniel's manhood and when he jerked and arched in her arms, the water splashing and lapping high, pressing his buttocks against her womanhood in his contortions, crying out her name in the same hoarse voice as he had yesterday, an aftershock ran through her, small and poignant, the ghost of what could be, what she and Daniel could achieve, if he could ever love her and let her love him--

No.

Vala shook her head even as she gentled the stunned and gasping man in her arms. No, this was for Daniel, not her. Her wishes, her desires had no place here, she told herself firmly. Only Daniel, his wellbeing, his peace of mind.

Oh, she would Tame him, that wasn't in question. He was a natural submissive, so pure and sweet the Quorum's Dominants would have come to blows to claim him for their own.

But once she had Tamed him, she would be his Domme and he would be her sub, and that was all they would be to one another.

Daniel was as limp as a pasta as Vala guided him out of the tub and over to the sink, settling him down to be dried and shaved. When applying his lotion, she took her time. She couldn't help it. After all, she needed some reward for all the hard work she was doing here this week, she thought with a smirk. Oh the joy of skimming her hands along his skin, his broad shoulders and chest tapering down to slim waist and hips, leading in turn to firm buttocks with just a hint of pink left over from the two flat-handed smacks she had dealt a couple of hours ago for impertinence.


	17. Daniel’s Snarkfest

 

The afternoon brought more chores, then Vala prepared dinner, more chicken along with a pack of frozen stir fry vegetables over rice, topped with yellow Thai curry sauce.

Daniel ate it all and thanked her for it, but Vala could see his frown growing as he ate. And as his wits returned, so did his denial. She knew full well that he was ashamed of his reactions during and after the enemas, scared of the loss of control, and he inevitably turned to the attack with his greatest weapon: what both Samantha and Cameron called snark.

"Vala, I have a question I'd like to ask."

She suppressed a sigh. "Yes, Daniel?"

"I was thinking about how you've managed to insinuate yourself into the SGC, Vala, and I was wondering, why is it that you always insist on going where you aren't wanted?" His voice was innocently curious, but his eyes bored into hers like icy blue lasers.

And like lasers, his words cut right to her heart. It hurt, she couldn't deny it. She wouldn't lie to herself, unlike someone else this very room. It hurt to think that after years, decades of wandering and fighting, that a place she finally decided to stay and make a stand on, didn't really value her.

"I believe that I am wanted at the SGC," she responded calmly when she felt she could speak.

"Maybe at the SGC, _maybe_ ," he allowed with a sneer, "but not _here_ , Vala, never here in this house."

She went on the offensive. "Do you trust me as a teammate?"

He blinked, the icy stare breaking up at her sudden question. "I--yes, as a teammate, but not here, not on a personal level."

"You invited me into your home because you trust me," she stated firmly.

"I don't."

"You do, Daniel. Deep down, you do."

"...I invite a lot of people here."

"No, you don't," she contradicted him gently. "In the past, you've invited SG-1 team members and perhaps a couple special people to your home. Our young friend Cassandra or your doctor friend who died."

"And I didn't invite you!" he all but shouted, ignoring her words, temper flaring. "You showed up!"

"You could've told me to leave. The airman was still here."

"That would've been...rude."

"You've never had problems being rude to me before."

He had no real answer to that, so he misdirected. "Although not as rude as beating someone up in his own house and tying him up."

The conversation was useless at that point. "Enough complaining, darling. Time to wash the dishes."

That evening they retired to the living room for a little quiet time. Sitting on the couch with Daniel at her feet, Vala pulled out one of his Smithsonian magazine, enjoying the badly disguised look of surprise that crossed over the sub's face. Yes, in order to quickly understand a society, one had to look primarily to popular culture sources. But Vala planned to stay on Earth a long time, she hoped the rest of her life, and she had every intention of analyzing the planet in as much depth as she could. It would behoove Daniel to remember that while Vala would never be as well-educated or have his own innate genius, his Domme was far from stupid.

She was a fair ways into an article about the excavation of an early American settlement called Jamestown, when Daniel spoke up.

"Vala, I have a question I'd like to ask," he said, his voice no warmer than it had been earlier.

She couldn't stop the sigh this time. "In a minute, darling." She needed just a few moments' peace before beginning a new round. From the corner of her eye she could see his petulant moue. She enjoyed the sight of that for a while before finally deigning to let him speak.

"I don't know much about bondage and pain, Vala," he began, "but I do know that you're supposed to be using a safe word. So why aren't you?"

Somewhat rude, but Vala let it pass. "Yes, I read about that," she drawled. "The play-sub uses an agreed upon word to signal the play-Dom that something is unacceptable. Very quaint and useful for playing games. I, however, am not playing." She held his eye steadily, letting him see her seriousness and determination. "This is real," she declared inflexibly. "And _I_ will decide when, how much, and what."

Daniel shrank back against her show of dominance, his docile nature so very apparent to Vala, but still elusive to the man himself. "Wh--what?" he stammered.

"Exactly," she confirmed with satisfaction, going back to her article and ending the exchange.

Later, after taking care of his bathroom needs and putting him to bed, she took Daniel's aching manhood in a confident grip, watching him arch and moan helplessly under her hands. After, when he had drifted off to sleep, Vala sat petting him as she had the night before.

Hers may not have been an education as the Tau’ri termed it, Vala reflected, but she was very well educated in her craft indeed. Daniel would’ve been surprised at the months of intensive exercises Vala's Trainer had put her through before she passed on to full Dominant status. And the archeologist would've been shocked to know how much attention she was paying him now, how closely she observed him, even when she appeared not to.

She smoothed a stubborn tuft of his hair, carding it gently down into place.

Even if he thought he was resisting, Daniel was coming to trust Vala, to trust that his Domme was a woman of her word, that she saw to his physical needs conscientiously.

Nevertheless, Vala suspected things were coming to a head, possibly as early as tomorrow. While he may trust her deep down, on the surface he was still simply humoring her, she knew it, doing the bare minimum to avoid a bad paddling. He had no real intent to learn and grow, he was merely waiting her out.

Once she was sure he was deeply asleep, Vala rose with a heavy sigh and went down to the garage.

As she had seen before, the room held a comprehensive set of power tools, most of them unused to judge from the pristine price tags still attached, along with the leftover building supplies she had asked Daniel's permission to use a couple days earlier. If only he knew what he'd given permission for, he might not have been so generous.

Combing through the messy jumble in front of Daniel's jeep, she found a perfect one-inch wide wooden dowel.

Tiptoeing back to check that Daniel was still deeply asleep, she closed the intervening doors and quickly cut two four-inch long lengths from the dowel with a power saw, sanding down the rough edges. Next she located a few bolts and wing nuts and drilled matching holes in the dowels. She had brought some pre-made items from the Mountain, and she combined the several parts now, building something with sure hands.

Vala had more experience jury-rigging broken or worn-down machinery and mechanisms than she cared to think about and soon she was stepping back, inspecting the finished device with both satisfaction and trepidation.

This little device she had built... This was a serious piece of equipment, _disciplinary_ equipment, something that made the Humbler look like the harmless exercise aid that Daniel had mistaken it for at first. She only hoped this device wouldn't be necessary, that Daniel would recognize his nature, reach a liberating epiphany before his behavior _made_ it necessary.

Because while she might be reluctant to use it, if Daniel crossed the line, if he persisted in defying her, she wouldn't hesitate.


	18. A Rough Day Ends with an Ill-Considered Action

Daniel always knew when he was dreaming, that was part of the problem. He knew he was having a nightmare and wanted desperately to wake up, but couldn't. When this used to happen off-world, Jack would kick him and tell him to knock it off; Sam or Teal'c would shake his shoulder and ask if he was okay. It hadn't come up yet with Mitchell and he had certainly never shared a tent with Vala. All considered, he much preferred Jack's method: he didn't need comfort, he just needed to not be asleep any more.

At the touch of Vala's hand to his cheek, he woke up with a hoarse gasp, the dream-Anubis with its greasy faceless hood fading away in the bright sunshine of his bedroom, Vala's concerned grey eyes regarding him with sympathy. Sympathy that irritated him. He would've woken up eventually.

He flinched away from her, pulling foolishly at the bonds on his wrists and ankles.

Vala backed off, asking, "Do you want to talk about it, darling?"

"No." He blinked his eyes furiously, trying to regain his wits. He didn't miss the warmth of her touch in his cheek, he didn't need that comfort. He didn't need _her_.

"All right then," Vala said with a sad smile that seemed to cut straight through his heart. She released him from the bed, changing out his nighttime bonds with the daytime ones. "Let's start our day, darling."

With a scowl Daniel followed her into the bathroom, watching her as she walked. Vala wore her tight black slacks and stiletto pumps again, her shirt today a silvery shift with high collar and no sleeves, falling in shimmering folds to her hips.

Her beauty only made his scowl deepen.

The day passed mostly as the previous two had: eggs and the torturous smell of coffee for breakfast followed by chores. Dishes, laundry, floors. For an exciting variation, Vala gave him a sponge mop and had him clean the walls and ceilings, his arms starting to ache before he was halfway through the living room.

After a lunch of a surprisingly good salad filled with both vegetables and fruit, Vala announced another new indignity: she demanded he clean her shoes. With his tongue.

It took six swat of the paddle to garner his cooperation, but what he couldn't understand was why he had hardened at the initial demand. When Vala first gave the order and he looked at the shoes right in front of his face, huddled there in the Humbler, the blood rushed immediately to his cock. After his stalling and the paddling that induced, he was harder than ever, and licking and laving every square centimeter of the glossy black patent leather just made it worse. He told himself it was just the closeness of her, the scent of her... It didn't mean anything.

Nor did the fact that he wished he could go on to lick his way up her leg mean anything.

By late afternoon he'd had not many rewards, but lots of punishments, and at bath time he balked again. He couldn't stand it, he just couldn't, and so he fidgeted in the bathroom, negotiating like a cranky toddler. "Vala, please, I don't--I don't want a bath." He blushed scarlet at the childish words.

"Are you afraid?" Vala asked.

Instantaneous anger flared up. "No! Don't be ridiculous! Afraid of what? You? Having an orgasm?"

"I don't know, darling, that's why I'm asking," Vala stated, so calm, so in control, damn her.

"Well, I'm not afraid. I just--I just don't want to." He tried to moderate his tone. "Let me--just let me take a shower. Please. Vala."

"I think you're afraid of both me and of having an orgasm," Vala stated after regarding him squirm for a full minute. "Further, I think you believe you don't deserve either one."

Daniel’s only response was a wordless shake of his head.

Regardless, Vala bathed him just as on the previous two days, and just as on the previous two days, she wrenched a soul-shuddering orgasm out of him, leaving him limp and, to his mind, dangerously out of control.

Dinner was a small roast that Vala had set cooking earlier in the afternoon, along with red potatoes and green beans with slivered almonds. It was absolutely delicious, melting on Daniel tongue. But she had pre-cut his meat again and he ate sullenly down on the floor, quietly, not even so much as thanking her for the meal.

That evening, kneeling at her feet as she read the Smithsonian magazine on the couch, he cleared his throat. "Vala, I have a question I'd like to ask, please."

"No questions tonight I'm afraid, darling," she said dismissively, turning a page.

He stared in shocked disbelief, indignant thoughts roiling through his brain. That just... It wasn't _fair_. He’d been trying to get of glimpse of the magazine as the lamp shown on a turning page, and he just wanted to ask her what article she was reading, maybe get a conversation going.

She deigned to give him a brief, and very chilly, glance. "You've been a very naughty boy today and I don't reward that kind of behavior," she observed in Arctic tones.

He hunched down as far as his bonds would let him, emotions warring between guilty chagrin and righteous outrage. Being called a 'naughty boy' was painfully humiliating, but he supposed by her standards she was right, he had been...uncooperative today. But he was _supposed_ to be uncooperative. He _was_ , he assured himself desperately. He wouldn't give in, he _couldn't_.

She got him ready for bed early that night, at least he thought it was early. Guiding him from the bathroom to his little nest, his cock throbbed for Vala's hands, already accustomed to a routine only two or three days old, totally at odds with what he knew to be his duty.

He knew if he let her spend him he’d be useless. That was his problem, sex made him lose control, made him weak and needy, and he couldn’t afford that. That's why he had to watch himself constantly: sexual desire was dangerous and must be denied. It was for other people, not him. For him, it only led to trouble and heartache.

But god, it would be so easy... To let Vala take him in hand, let his cock get what it so very much wanted, lose control, cede control over to the beautiful confident woman who ruled his life right now... No. It was too dangerous, _she_ was too dangerous.

Right now, here was his opening: Vala was close, she had bound his wrists and ankles, and released his hobble, but not yet leashed him to the bed, and she hadn't yet gotten a good hold on his traitorous cock. This would hurt Vala, but it had to be done. He couldn't be gentle, this was war, wasn't it? It was his duty to try to escape, just like a prisoner of war. He knew the comparison was ludicrous even as he thought it, but he was committed now, no turning back, no sympathy for the enemy...

Daniel focused all the anger and humiliation of these last three and a half days into a hard sideways jab of his left elbow--

And it worked! He made contact with Vala, hitting her on the left temple as she crouched close to stoke him, knocking her to one side, but as the jarring blow traveled up his arm, his overwhelming emotion wasn’t triumph, but horror.

He was so busy thinking of this in terms of himself and his bid for freedom that he hadn’t considered the damage he’d be doing to Vala. If the blow hurt his elbow, what must Vala be feeling? God, he bragged about saving spiders, but he’d bring harm to a teammate? Especially _this_ teammate, crazy or not. Since when did he let anger influence him? What happened to empathy?

He wasn’t sure later if his hesitation doomed his escape attempt but he kind of doubted it.

Vala recovered quickly, very quickly. After a brief recoil from Daniel’s blow, she dove back down to grab him in an iron grip, but it didn't really matter at that point, Daniel was too upset to even consider what his next move was supposed to be. Beating Vala unconscious? Had he really thought this through? Had he thought at all?

"Vala! God, did I hurt you? God, I’m sorry! I--I didn’t mean to hurt you!” He knew his babbled words were ridiculous, what else would an elbow to the head result in but pain? “I mean, it’s my duty to escape, right? I should try to escape, but I didn’t mean to hurt--!”

“Shh, Daniel. Yes, it hurt but I’ll live.” Vala held a hand to his face, quieting him, only a crease between her brows betraying the discomfort she must be feeling. “I understand why you did that, why you felt you needed to, but there will still be consequences.”

“Consequences? Like--like what?”

“Like punishment,” she specified, a smile quirking her lips. “And I assure you the pain of a jab to the head will be nothing compared to what you’re about to experience.”

He gulped. "I... But--but I said I'm sorry..."

"Do you really think you should get away with something like this?”

"Um, no, I guess not," he admitted in a mumble. "But, uh, but you know what they say. It's easier to ask for forgiveness than permission." He aimed a hopeful expression at her.

"No, darling. Actually, in this instance, it's quite the opposite. Let me demonstrate." She rose and walked out of the room, calling over her shoulder, "Report to the living room."


	19. The Pillory

Daniel felt every bit of his disobedience now, inching along with his bound hands and feet like a worm, moving as slowly as possible, afraid to face his punishment, punishment he knew damn well that he deserved. He slowed as much as he dared, foolishly drawing out his journey just like the naughty boy Vala accused him of being, as though malingering and wasting time would make the situation go away.

Vala waited for him in the living room beside of the kitchen bar counter, her face stern and dispassionate, and he sped up at the sight, arriving at her feet in an obeisant crouch, pressing his face onto the cool wooden floor, smelling the oil soap he himself had laboriously rubbed into it earlier that day.

Guiding him to kneel up, he was surprised to see the 'pony bit' from Monday ready to gag him. "No, I'm not planning on making a phone call, Daniel," Vala said, her expression softening with a smile that held more than the hint of a smirk. "This is to keep the sound down during your punishment." She slipped it into place. "You’ll be voicing more than a yelp or two, believe me."

Unable to reply even if he wanted to, Daniel clenched his teeth uneasily on the coiled rope filling his mouth. He didn't struggle when she re-lashed his wrists to the usual short leashes tied to the karada harness, only afterwards releasing the catch binding his wrists together.

Helping him up with his ankles still bound, Vala steadied the tottering man, directing him to lean onto the bar counter, holding the counter lip with his leashed hands, Daniel standing with his face nervously downcast.

Vala left for a moment, and Daniel's eyes grew wide with dread when she returned immediately with a long thin implement that looked distressingly like a crop.

"This is a crop," Vala announced, confirming the guess Daniel had hoped was wrong. She held the instrument by its two ends, bending it to demonstrate its springiness. "Entirely homemade and I'm really quite proud of it. Dear Sylvester helped me,” she continued, naming the SGC’s jack-of-all-trades, Sergeant Siler. “Not that he knew what I wanted it for." She cocked her head a moment, thinking. "At least I don't think he did. Standing water goes deep, they say.”

No, they say 'still waters run deep,' Daniel's pedantic, and increasingly hysterical, brain supplied.

“Regardless," Vala continued, "I made it by clipping off a piece of whip antenna, the thin pliable part, and covering it in braided duct tape. Amazing stuff, duct tape. Have you ever used it, darling? Sly said someone named MacGuyver would be proud. Perhaps he was a famous Dom?"

Daniel could only shake his head, but Vala wasn't looking at him anymore. She had pulled over what Daniel now dubbed as the Box of Unpleasant Surprises. This was the box the airman had brought in on Sunday, the box the Humbler had come from, and unfortunately for Daniel, there was more left in there now than just the homemade crop.

A heavy round metal base plate and metal rod were the first two things to come out. Vala set the plate flat on the floor and screwed the rod into a hole in the middle of it, the rod standing up solidly to the height of about three feet. Vala took a slightly skinnier rod out next and slipped it into the upright one, looking Daniel over speculatively before deciding on a height and tightening a side clamp to keep it in place, making a combined pole of about four feet tall.

"Some of this I brought with me," she remarked, "and some I constructed last night with the garage supplies you so kindly allowed me." She held up some kind of double-dowel contraption. "This is from your stuff."

He frowned, not understanding the assemblage. She mounted the bottom dowel to the top of the pole, clamping it into place firmly to sit horizontally, the second dowel stacked on top, held together at the ends by two bolts with wing nuts.

Vala regarded Daniel seriously. "I know you're confused and scared and angry right now, but please believe me when I say I don't want to do this. I told you before, I'm not a sadist, my only interest in the delivery of physical pain is for the enjoyment of the sub or the necessity of punishment. I take no joy in inflecting pain just for pain's sake alone, quite the opposite. So that's why I want to be clear on why your punishment is to be so very harsh."

Daniel swallowed with difficulty around the gag, not at all liking where Vala was going with this.

"I'm going to give you a punishment you will never forget and I never want to have to do something like this again. Ever."

There was an element of pleading in her eyes that he couldn't concentrate on right now, too busy staring at the wood and metal contraption, fear spiking.

"Since you're gagged, I will list your crimes. You are to be punished for a physical attack on your Dominant, disobedience, and disrespect."

Okay, it seemed like it would be another spanking, he could handle that as he was, albeit reluctantly, in a spankable position at the bar counter right now, but what was that contraption about?

Vala slid the pole assembly over directly behind him. "Stand on the base, Daniel," she ordered.

He obeyed, his toes curling as he inched his still-bound feet back onto the cold metal. The dowel assemblage was now tucked up snug against the seat of his butt. He could feel her fiddle with it, then she ordered, "Now keep your feet in place and come up on your toe-tops, spreading your legs."

Foreboding filled him, but what could he do other than obey? Leaning harder on the bar counter, he came up on his tiptoes, spreading his knees apart. Vala promptly reached through the opening he created, and his balls, so recently freed from their hobble, were snagged again and tugged back relentlessly. Daniel involuntarily dipped his back and raised his butt to ease the pull, going higher still on his toes, eyes watering as his testicles were stretched far beyond their intended place on his anatomy, just like with the Humbler.

Grunting into the gag, he felt the smooth wood of the two dowels as Vala placed his balls between them, holding them in place with one hand as she quickly screwed the top dowel down snug. Daniel's testicles were now trapped in place.

“I hoped this wouldn’t be necessary, but I guess I'm glad now that I stocked it--oh, that was a pun!" Vala observed brightly. "Because, you see, like the Humbler, this is a sort of stock. However, instead of a simple hole to trap a man's testicles--" she had let go of his balls, using both hands now to simultaneously tighten down the two wing nuts, drawing the two dowels closer and closer together, "this is slightly--" the space between the dowels narrowed down alarmingly, his balls squeezed tighter and tighter, "just--slightly--" every word was punctuated with an unmerciful tightening of the wooden vise, “more--painful," until his captured balls were crushed remorselessly.

A wordless whimper of pained disbelief rose unbidden from Daniel’s gagged mouth.

“Yes," she confirmed as if he had spoken. "It has a very crude name on some of your world's net-sites, which I am too much of a lady to repeat. Let's just call it the Pillory." Vala stood back, looking him over, arms akimbo.

Daniel panted around the bit gag, tears flowing from his watering eyes, praying that this was the whole of his punishment.

"Now to extend the pole..."

She crouched down at the junction where the two metal rods attached together, loosening the clamp. There was the sound of metal shifting and scraping and an upward thrust joined the continued inexorable crushing.

"It is rather diabolical, isn't it?”

The rising pole forced up Daniel's testicles, then the man himself in turn, and he soon found himself poised desperately on tiptoes, straining to ease the vicious pull, but all in vain. He was well and truly caught in a wringer and he could only try to hold as still as possible, praying his strict Domme would decide he was sufficiently immobilized. But that forlorn hope was proved wrong as, unbelievably, Vala returned to the vise and tightened it ever so slightly again. The pain which had been merely a knife-like stabbing, spiked up to red-hot poker territory. Daniel broke out in a cold sweat, trembling with a stuttering keen.

“Never fear, darling," Vala said. "This isn't really going to hurt you.”

 _Not really hurt him?_ Daniel’s keen rose an octave as Vala gave one last minute crank to the wing nuts, the pain running like white-hot fire in his groin.

“Well, yes, it _will_ really hurt, darling, you're right," she conceded, as if they were holding an inconsequential conversation. “But you know what I mean.”

The adjustments finally stopped and he huffed, shivering.

“No _permanent_ damage,” Vala specified. “I would never harm my sweet sub. Now give me a moment to make sure you’re secure.”

As if he could stop her.

Daniel felt fingertips stroking his sensitive drum-tight skin, reaching past the pole to check on his limp and shriveled penis.

Vala removed her hands from him and gripped the Pillory to check its stability, and even in his distress he found himself missing her touch. “The Tau'ri are quite ingenious." She rapped a knuckle against the metal contraption, the resultant vibration making Daniel shudder. "We had nothing like this at home in Qadesh."

Daniel tried to breathe through the pain as it began to dull, standing there miserable and hurting. He would get through this, he assured himself, he would. He knew he deserved it. He had struck Vala. She'd probably make him stay there like a misbehaving boy standing in a corner, thinking over his misdeeds. Well, he'd think them over all right. He shouldn't have struck her, that was wrong. As for the rest, he'd do a better job of humoring her from now on. Nothing had to change. He just had to keep up a good front--

"I'm going to begin your punishment now, Daniel."

 _What?_ His eyes flew open. _Begin?_

Oh, fuck, how had he forgotten her homemade crop?

Vala stood with the gray mottled crop held in her right hand, the wickedly thin tip resting in her left. Futilely blinking away tears and sweat, Daniel met her eyes and found not anger, anger he could've handled and returned in kind, but sadness and disappointment, a bruise on her left temple just starting to show. Unable to speak, Daniel could only drop his head, shame and confusion filling him. She said she didn't like to inflict pain and he could believe her if her expression was anything to go by.

"Oh my poor stubborn boy. You always have to do things the hard way."

She took a determined breath, steeling herself and stepped towards his rear, lifting the crop high. He tensed, heard a whistle and a snap, and after a second's delay as his body processed this inconceivable affront, a razor sharp line of fire burned across the cheeks of his ass. The impact was light, almost inconsequential, but the pain scorched all out of proportion to the mass of the thin supple instrument.

Before he could do more than voice a gag-muffled yelp, a second line joined the first, then a third, and he lost track after that, the fiery lines crisscrossing his helpless rump. He clamped down on the bit, trying to silence his cries, trying to be stoic, that's what was expected, right? For a man to be stoic in the face of pain?

"There's an art to giving effective punishment," Vala remarked, Daniel barely able to hear her over his own groans. "The Tamer must listen to the impact and to her submissive's cries."

Stubbornly, Daniel tried to clamp down harder on his involuntary grunt at every blow.

“I mark the way you jump, the way you poor manhood bounces...”

The stripes came harder.

“Now, to keep the strength of my swing, but move the crop down..."

The rain of fire crept down his butt, the crop progressing steadily toward Daniel’s helplessly protruding testicles. No, she wouldn't, she couldn't--!

"To just barely tag--”

Daniel couldn’t believe any pain could be worse than what he already endured. He jerked, bit the gag savagely, the rope gritted between his teeth, strangling the howl of agony that tried to break free.

“Houston, we have touchdown!" Vala announced, then continued with false cheer, "I think I'm getting good at these cultural references, Cameron would be so proud."

He grunted out his pain, holding back the screams, he wouldn't give her the satisfaction, he wouldn't.

"Every fifth stroke I think," she decided.

And five strokes later, and every fifth stroke thereafter, the crop tagged lightly at his testes, lightly compared to the punishment his butt was taking, but to the virginal flesh there, it was like a lightning strike.

He was being played like a drum, humiliated beyond measure. Daniel oh so desperately wanted to pull away, pull forward and away from the fiery pain raining down on his backside, but he was on a very short leash indeed. To ease the vise’s tug he had to not only hold still, but consciously back up, straining unwillingly to offer up more flesh to the unforgiving crop which currently ruled his world, wielded by a Domme determined to teach him a lesson he would never forget.

“Oh, my poor Daniel,” Vala sighed. “You made your choice.”

It went on and on, a timeless interval, until finally she stopped and he panted with a whining hitch in his throat. It was over, thank god, it was over--

“We're about halfway through, Daniel," Vala stated evenly. "At least I hope so.”

Whimpers of disbelief laced Daniel’s panting huffs. She did that on purpose, he knew she did, and he didn't care, he was in too much misery to be angry.

Vala started up with the crop again, Daniel jerking and writhing in silent response.

"You see, it's up to you, Daniel. If I can't hear you, I can't judge your pain."

God, he just wanted it to be over and he would never do anything like that again. He could've been sitting quietly at her feet right now, her fingers carding his hair, looking forward to a reward for good behavior at bedtime--

Again came the harshest fifth stroke and his broken grunt. He needed to hold firm, he refused to give in.

"You need to let it go, Daniel, let it out."

He hung there as if at a crossroads, as if suspended from the Pillory, holding out, holding on. Should he continue to fight or should he submit to this strong and determined woman, this woman who said she understood and could help him?

" _Let it go,_ Daniel," Vala begged, so soft he was surprised he could hear her at all. "Please let it go, _let it all go_."

He could hear the tears in her voice, the pain, the raw plea...

And he obeyed.

He let it go, he let it out.

This wasn't being strong in front of some Goa'uld or trying to impress Jack or Teal'c or even Sam or Mitchell with how soldierly he was.

This wasn't just the physical pain of the whipping, oh that was bad, and Daniel suffered his penance loud and long, trapped exactly where his Mistress desired him and no amount of wishing could stop the stiff crop from whistling down on his vulnerable flesh.

But ultimately the physical pain was nothing, not compared to the emotions the crop seemed to wring from him, every flaming stroke wrenching a deeply hidden torment up from his soul, all of them, all his failures, crowding up on him like ghosts, crowding up just like the sobs crowded up in his throat.

Shau'ri, his own wife whom he failed to protect. Skaara, on the cusp of manhood, destroyed along with all of Abydos because of him. Sarah's life perverted merely from an association with him. His own Ascension, what was it but a desertion of SG-1 when times got rough? And the Ori, a scourge of unimaginable proportions wreaked upon the galaxy as a result of Daniel's unthinking curiosity.

Vala had fallen silent, concentrated on her work, her Taming.

He didn’t try to hide the pain, not anymore, and sobs laced his screams. He hurt beyond any kind of control...but maybe that was okay.

Vala was in control now. Maybe he could just let her be in control...

After a time, he didn't know how long or how short, he became aware that while the pain still pulsed viciously, the crop blows had ceased. The gag was removed and a kitchen towel wiped the mess up from his face. Gentle fingers unscrewed the bolts holding him tight and released the catch on his ankles.

Then Vala's strong arms caught him, held him, and as he continued sobbing, she led him along, his legs as weak and stumbling as a newborn foal.


	20. Epiphany and Rebirth

Vala guided Daniel to the couch and down to his knees. Then, sitting cross-legged on the rug beside him, she pulled him to her, gathering him up, holding him tightly, his head nestled securely between her soft breasts as she leaned back. His arms were still leashed, but it didn't matter. He wasn't capable of returning the hug, he just lay passively, soaking up the feel of her strong embrace, sobs still wracking his body.

“Oh, sweetheart. Hoist with your own petard, I'm afraid," Vala observed gently, brushing Daniel’s hair off his sweaty forehead.

Ah, one hysterical part of his brain observed, another correct figure of speech.

He was quite literally whipped clean, scoured down to the bone, to his soul, all thought and pretensions stripped away. He sobbed continuously, not just from the pain, but from Vala's disappointment. He realized he could take any amount of pain but he couldn't stand it if she were angry with him. To see the disappointment in her eyes was far worse than the lingering agony of his body.

"I forgive you, darling," she whispered.

Daniel cried harder, longer than he'd have thought possible, until his eyes burned and his head ached. And Vala simply held him.

After what seemed hours the sobs slacked off to wet sniffles and a hitching catch in the back of his throat. She pulled a tissue from a box on the table, bringing it to his nose and ordering him to blow. He obeyed without a second thought and she cleaned him up with perfunctory ease.

"Bed now, sweetheart."

She led him to the bedroom, his already unsteady steps slowing with reluctance at the thought of the cold little nest waiting for him at the end of the bed. But Vala led Daniel directly up to the side of the bed itself, tossing back the covers.

"Get in, darling."

"Really?" he croaked, his voice rough and sore, hopeful but disbelieving that he deserved the favor. "But--but I was bad and--and--"

"And you were punished. And I forgave you. The incident is closed now."

His already burning eyes stung with new tears. Wrongdoing, punishment, and forgiveness. So simple, so straightforward... If only all the murky shades-of-gray in his life had such clear-cut resolutions.

"Your disposition is entirely my prerogative," Vala continued, "and I have decided to allow you to sleep with me." She cupped his damp cheek with a gentle hand. "I think you need this tonight." She crooked a wan smile. "I think we both do."

He blinked through his tear-washed eyes, studying her, noticing for the first time the paleness of her face. And was that a faint tremor he could feel in her hand? He realized with a flood of new guilt that the whipping he'd just received had taken just as much out of her as him.

"I...I'm so sorry, Vala," he whispered.

"Hush. Now lie down on your belly and I'll soothe your poor rump."

He obeyed, sighing when she applied the rose scented lotion, spreading his legs to give her access to his swollen and flaming balls. When she'd finished she made a quick trip to the bathroom, and he lay inert, dazed and throbbing, but nevertheless comfortable half-listening as she brushed her teeth and changed. With an effort, he raised one gritty eyelid to see she had changed into a pretty but conservative nightgown, sleeveless and scoop-necked, but falling to her ankles in shimmering pink folds.

She turned the lights down and joined him in the small bed. She arranged the covers carefully over his heated backside and slid partially under him, leaving him on his belly, and once more wrapping her arms around him. Their legs alternated, Daniel's quiescent groin pressed against Vala's thigh, one of his legs between hers, his bare skin grateful for the cool silk of her gown. He curled his lashed hands up, resting his head on her soft chest.

They both lay quietly for a moment, Daniel content to listen to the reassuring beat of Vala's heart under his head, to feel the promise of her embrace.

o-0-o

Vala lay back willing her breathing to calm and her heartbeat to slow, willing her hands not to grip possessively tight at the submissive man who lay so pliantly in her arms.

That punishment had been...horrendous. Daniel had screamed so loudly, despite the gag in his mouth. He had writhed so desperately, despite the Pillory's cruel grip. And his weeping afterwards, so heartbreaking.

The Domme in her knew why the whipping had to be so vicious, but the lover in her... She wanted to beg his forgiveness, she wanted to kiss him senseless, she wanted--

Stop. She was Domme Vala right now, not a witless lovesick twit. Her _wants_ were immaterial. Only Daniel mattered.

She took a calming breath in through her nose and turned her attention resolutely to the wrung-out man who lay half on top of her, gauging his mood and wellbeing. He was still awake. Good. It was time to guide the stubborn submissive to face some truths about himself.

"Tell me what you're feeling, Daniel," she coaxed softly.

Daniel squirmed a bit, his breath hitching as if he wanted to talk but didn't know how.

"This is a safe place, sweetheart," Vala murmured, carding his hair soothingly. "There's nothing you can't say to me."

Daniel's voice came hoarse and tentative. "I'm just...just so scared...so damn _scared_..."

"I know, sweetheart. I know how you feel. I was scared too, until a certain gorgeous and compassionate man set me straight."

She could feel the heat of a little chuff of hysterical laughter through her thin nightgown. "I guess I can dish it out but I can't take it."

"Hush. I would never say anything so unkind. You wish the best for everyone, everyone but yourself, Daniel. You think you don't deserve it."

She could feel the spreading moisture as new tears flowed, Daniel burying his face into her chest, trying vainly to muffle his sobs.

"You see others so clearly, darling, and you try to share your wisdom for their benefit. But you don't see how they relate to you. And yourself you don't understand at all."

His voice choked and raw in the dim bedroom, Daniel said, "Yes, Vala, I can see that now, but how--how do I--?" He broke off, gulping back more tears. "I know you said it, but--but do you--do you really think you understand me?"

The question was childlike and oh so vulnerable and Vala was almost breathless with pride that he trusted her enough to ask it. "Yes, darling, I really do."

He squirmed, obviously afraid, but pushing the words out. "Could--could you help me?" he whispered.

"Oh Daniel, I've been waiting so long to for you to ask that of me. Yes, sweetheart, I can and I will."

He squirmed, hope and despair warring internally. "I just...I need to stay in control."

"Why, sweetheart?"

"I don't--I don't know!" he said desperately. "People need me, they depend on me, I need to be strong for them, to not waste their time. Jack and the IOA, Teal'c and the Jaffa council, the SGC, the Tok'ra. And--and I need to stop crying, this is ridiculous!"

"Daniel, I said this is a safe place and I meant it."

"Yes, Vala, but I'm no good to anyone..."

"Oh, so much guilt and self-hatred, my poor foolish man. You expect things of yourself you wouldn't dream of exacting on anyone else."

"I'm weak and useless, and this just proves it. A little whipping and I'm crying like a baby."

"Darling, I assure you, that was _not_ a 'little' whipping. That was a serious punishment. Not that you didn't deserve it."

Daniel burrowed his face into Vala's chest in remorse.

"Do you think if you were tortured by the Goa'uld or the Lucian Alliance or the Ori you'd break?" she asked.

He thought a moment. "I'd like to think I'd hold out, but what else _can_ I think now?"

"You can think that this is completely and totally different from torture by an enemy. You would not break, you've never come close before, have you?"

"I--I guess not, but I should be stronger. It's not up to others to take care of me, I can't run to Jack like a little boy every time I fall and scrape my knee."

"If you'd understood yourself, you could've been better prepared in your life, but you never allowed yourself the leeway to experiment, and now you're paying the price. Oh, I wish we'd met as teenagers, I could have helped you so much!" Vala paused to stroke his hair and he melted into her touch. "Daniel, it's only up to others to do as they see fit. You can ask, but no one's obligated to act. I am here because I _want_ to be. Yes, I do feel that I owe you a debt for the help you've given me, but I am not obligated to return the favor in any way I don't care to. Anything I do, anything your other friends do, is because we love you. You need to let people love you, sweetheart."

He buried his face again, gasping as a fresh batch of tears flowed.

"It's okay to let us in, we love you,” she repeated. “And we don't love you for the work you do, or how fast you complete a translation." She spoke with all the resoluteness she could inject into her words, trying by sheer force to make him believe. "We love you for _you_ , just as you are, no threads attached."

"Strings," Daniel croaked out through his tears, correcting her automatically. "It's just that I don't--don't want to be..."

"You are _not_ too much trouble."

From the look he gave her it was obvious she had guessed correctly. "That's just scary," he said, trying and failing to smile.

She cupped his cheek, wiping away tears. "I know you, darling. I know you better than you think."

Daniel stared at her, entranced. He was on the cusp of some real progress here, open and receptive at last. This was it, the point where he could finally begin to make some progress. And Goddess help her, it took every last ounce of self-control not to kiss him, those eyes so blue as they swam with tears.

"You are not weak or pathetic, you are the strongest man I know. Have ever known. This is what you need." She gestured at their situation. "You are a sexual submissive and if you embrace this, embrace your true nature, the rest of your life will fall into place." She held his face two handed, forcing him to look her in the eyes. "This is what you need, I promise. You've survived this long on sheer cussedness, but I can help you. Things can get better, but you have to trust me. Can you do that?"

Daniel blinked, squirming a bit, trying to look away, but she held him firmly, her question hanging in the air between them. "I...I trust you," he said, looking surprised as the words came out of his own mouth.

"I'm glad," she said, her smile brilliant. "Will you give what I'm trying to do for you a try?"

"I..." His eyes dropped. "It's hard. It's not what I thought about myself, what I thought I should be."

Vala tilted his head, ducking down and forcing eye contact again. "I understand, but I'm here to help you. Will you let me?"

Again Daniel stared transfixed, his eyes blue and guileless and utterly defenseless, his eyelashes clumped and starred with tears. "I...will," he whispered slowly.

Her smile grew. "Yes?"

"I..." He shook himself, his focus sharpening a bit. "I'll give the concept a try," he amended, voice still shaky even as he tried to sound self-assured.

Aw, that was so cute, a sub trying to assert his will on his Domme. She wanted to laugh, but forced a solemn expression on her face. "I have your word to give this a _fair_ try?" she asked sternly.

"Yes, Vala. A fair try."

"I will hold you to that," she said.

He swallowed with an audible gulp. "Yes, Vala."

After a moment of thoughtful silence as she let him nestle down once more, Daniel said tentatively, "Vala, you said you've had lots of experience with this, but could you tell a little more about your time in Qadesh? Did you really become a qedesha like Nikkal and Eser?"

Vala smiled into the darkness. "Yes, sweetheart, I did," she said. "And I will tell you more soon, I promise." Smile fading, she continued softly, "It's been over twenty years since I could even think of helping anyone but myself..." Her time as Qetesh's host, and the following long and lonely years of struggle spooled before her unwilling eyes. Then she strengthened her grip on her sub and said firmly, "But then came you along and now I'm ready."

"Oh lucky me," Daniel breathed so softly he probably thought Vala couldn't hear.

"Yes, darling, lucky you," she drawled, giving his swollen backside a squeeze.

With a whimper, Daniel subsided into silence and soon they both dropped off into sleep.


	21. Breakfast at the Dawn of a New Day

  
Daniel woke in Vala's arms the next morning feeling lighter than air, as light as Maat's feather on the scale of life, light as a kite, floating high, tethered only to Vala.

Which should have been odd, considering the person in whose arms he still lay was the same person who beat him unmercifully just last night.

Daniel halted his automatic impulse to snuggle deeper.

He knew about brainwashing techniques, the idea of breaking someone down in order to rebuild them according to new specifications. That was also a boot-camp technique, one used by the U.S. Air Force, among others. But did that invalidate what Vala was doing? Was he being tricked? Suffering from Stockholm Syndrome after only three and a half days? A victim of kidnapping, false imprisonment, _rape_?

He idly tested the ropes that bound him, crisscrossing his chest and belly, leashing his hands. They felt good against his skin. They had always felt good, from the first time Vala applied them, but he was only just now ready to admit that to himself.

On the other hand, the manacles he'd been locked up with in Sokar's village five years ago, those had not felt good. And he hadn't gotten a hard-on when the Ori prior had captured him.

But he had when Vala wound these ropes, carefully, lovingly, carding his hair and murmuring reassurances. Even now as his butt and balls throbbed with the residue of the beating she'd delivered last night, he still reacted to the feel of the ropes, the memory of the binding. And it was the same reaction he'd always had, if he had just let it show, just admitted it, embraced it. Something that came from the inside, not the outside. But was it appropriate? Should he really give in to it, to Vala?

He'd been ridiculous last night, he'd cried like a child, totally out of control. Of course Vala had been there, providing control. Control he wouldn't have needed if she hadn't brought him to that point in the first place!

"Second thoughts, darling?" Vala asked softly. She must have been awake the whole time.

Daniel, still snug in her embrace, felt as much as heard the words vibrate into his ears. "No. I mean yes, but no, I won't-- I mean--!" He took a calming breath. "I'm sorry, Vala. Please, I was wondering if I'd made a mistake, but then..." He shook his head and concluded firmly, "I made a promise and I will follow through on it."

Vala chuckled, stroking his sleep-mussed hair. "I'm glad to hear it, darling. I don't think I could have taken much more involuntary Taming. It does wear a girl down."

They lay in a quiet companionship that Daniel would have scoffed at just twelve hours earlier. Then Vala’s stomach growled. She laughed again and gave his arm a squeeze. “Lie still a moment, darling, I need to check your poor backside.”

She slipped out from under him, opening the blinds to let more light into the room and pulling the bedcovers down. Daniel tensed as she leaned over him, his skin so tender he dreaded her touch, but Vala spread the rose lotion on her hand before touching him and he melted under the cool and soothing stokes.

“You have quite a few welts here, darling, I won't lie," she said. "But you needn't worry, there'll be no scarring, I'm much too professional to have broken the skin. This lotion is astringent and the swelling should go down by tomorrow.”

She rubbed him in silence for a moment, then whispered, "Oh my, what a lovely pattern that makes..."

Her finger followed one inflamed line across his buttocks and his cock took notice, beginning to twitch with interest. Of course that would be the first piece of his anatomy to recover from last night's holocaust of pain. He shifted a little nervously. "Um, I thought you said you weren't a sadist, Vala."

"I'm not, dear," she confirmed, giving his rear a last delicate pat. "But this was deserved punishment and there's not a Dominant alive who wouldn't enjoy seeing this rosy red rump of yours." She closed the lotion up and set it aside. "Let's get up now."

Face burning in embarrassment, Daniel crawled stiffly out of the bed and followed Vala into the bathroom where she directed him to his knees and tended to his bathroom needs the same way she had the previous mornings. And it might have appeared to an observer to be no different than the previous three mornings. But it was, in a subtle but fundamental way. Vala still kept Daniel in his karada, his hands still leashed, but the hobble on his raw and swollen testicles was mostly for show, hanging loosely thank god, only a symbolic statement of Vala's authority.

Then the Domme left him kneeling unwatched as she tended to her own needs.

He realized he must have been still asleep at this point every other day, because he knew she had never left him alone long enough to take a shower. He knelt in front of the tub waiting patiently on the floor as Vala removed her nightgown and stepped in the stall.

It felt...good. Sitting there, unmonitored, trusted to behave, his...mistress? out of sight. He kept his eyes lowered both as a show of docility and to avoid seeing Vala naked. The flamboyant woman had neither forbidden nor required him to look at her, so he erred on the side of caution.

It wasn't long before the water turned off and in his peripheral vision Daniel saw bare feet, toenails polished pink, stepping out onto the bath mat. Residual water coursed down the curvaceous muscles of Vala's legs and he watched the drips curl around her ankles, wondering...how high up on her nude body did those drops start?

But he didn’t look higher. She was the Dominant, the Domme, and he was... He still had trouble articulately that even to himself. Was he really...that? Submissive?

Dried off, she walked by him, patting his lowered head as she went, saying, "You're being a very good boy, Daniel."

He watched those incredibly long and sculpted nude legs move past him, and realized he wasn't scared of her anymore. Of her sexuality, to be precise. Oh sure, he respected her, her strength, her forceful personality. He was willingly submitting himself to her authority. But he was no longer scared of what Vala's nude body represented: sex and the loss of control it had always seemed to bring to Daniel.

He was still nervous around her, however, although not so nervous that he could stop a moue of irritation at the use of the word 'boy.' Yes, he was willing to give this thing a try, but...seriously? He was in his 30s for heaven's sake. Although maybe diminutives like that were typically used in the Dom/sub culture? He really didn't know.

Vala would tell him anything he needed to know, he decided. She promised. He trusted her now. Yes, he trusted Vala...which made no sense. She had beaten him, how could he trust her?

“What are you thinking, darling?”

He automatically looked up, but Vala was dressed now, exiting the closet, still towel-drying her hair. He recognized the hip-hugging brown denim leggings she’d worn on Tuesday. Above that was a sheer button-down shirt covering a lacy white camisole. She'd tied the shirt off at the waist, both camisole and shirt short enough to expose the curving plains of her trim belly.

“That you’re beautiful, Vala,” he answered without thinking. He flushed and dropped his eyes again.

Vala crouched and lifted his chin, her smile brilliant. “Thank you, sweetheart.”

That smile. Daniel felt good seeing it, being the cause of it. Was it really this easy?

“Another frown?" She released his chin and moved to the vanity, shaking her head in exasperation. She finished with the towel and pulled her damp hair into a ponytail. "What thoughts are coursing through that genius brain of yours?”

“I...” He wasn't sure how to articulate his scattered thoughts.

“Please talk to me, darling, how can I allay your fears if you don’t tell me what they are?” She glanced at him in the mirror and sighed with bemusement. “Now a smile? You’re a hard man to keep track of, darling.”

“I...I just like the old-fashioned way you talk, Vala.”

She arched a dark brow in question.

"No one would say 'allay your fears' these days."

"So that's the way to a linguist's heart," she said with a grin. She quickly finished with what little makeup she used: moisturizer for her face, followed by mascara and lipgloss. "We can talk while we eat. Come along, darling."

Vala had Daniel kneel in wait as she prepared scrambled eggs for breakfast. She evidently didn't yet trust him in the kitchen with all those sharp objects, just like she hadn't trusted him for the last three days.

Daniel looked down at the four strands of cord encasing each of his wrists, twisting his hands slowly.

He _could_ choose to be offended that she still had doubts about his sincerity. He could turn sullen and uncooperative...

...or he could acknowledge to himself that he hadn't given Vala much reason yet to trust his change of heart. He could work harder to prove he was serious about exploring this strange new world she was offering.

He took a deep breath, chose option two, and settled back on his heels.

When Vala had served him his plate on the floor and seated herself at the table, she looked down at him expectantly. "So, my Daniel, what were all those ferocious frowns about?"

Daniel swallowed his first bite, pushing eggs and sliced turkey sausage around his plate with his spoon. "I...I was thinking that I was starting to trust you, Vala."

Vala glanced at him as she speared a slice of melon from her fruit cup, her grey eyes bright with pleasure. "I'm honored, darling," she said seriously. "And that's good, yes? So why the frown?"

"I..." He could feel another frown creasing his brow. "I just-- Everything I thought I knew about life says that a person who takes a crop to your butt shouldn't be trusted."

He tried to frown harder at the smirk tugging at Vala's lips but struggled against a smile of his own.

"So why do you think you're inclined to trust me?" she asked, popping the melon into her mouth.

He frowned some more, eating a few sweet juicy chunks of his own melon as he thought things through. Okay, so instead of merely feeding him her own ideas of what was what, she wanted him to figure all this out himself. He knew this was the right way to go, that anything he couldn't figure out for himself wouldn't stick with him. That was the way he himself operated when he taught: nobody ever learned a thing being spoon-fed. So he couldn't very well protest.

"Um, well, I've grown to trust you out in the field," he admitted. "I know you're intelligent. You've had experiences in your life I can only guess at, experiences that inform your current actions." He paused to chew and swallow a sausage wheel. "Um, I guess that sounds a little pedantic..."

"Just a little," she said, smirking again.

"It's how I process things," he said defensively, gulping down some orange juice.

"Basically you trust me in other areas and you think I'm smart enough to perhaps be right in my assessment of your true nature."

He chased the last of his eggs around the plate, using a triangle of toast to scoop it onto his spoon. "Yeah, that sounds about right, Vala."

"But...?" she prompted.

"But it's still so different from anything I've ever thought of, I just..." He trailed off shaking his head, placing his spoon down on the empty plate and finishing off the last bite of toast.

Vala, finished also, half-turned in her chair, leaning elbows on knees to stroke a fingertip down his temple to his jawline, Daniel catching his breath at the touch. "You're being very good, Daniel. True to your word. And I have a reward for you."

 

 

 

 


	22. Settling In

Vala went into the kitchen and Daniel heard the sound of liquid being poured. Was that...? Oh please...

 _Yes_. The Domme returned with two mugs of hot coffee, placing one on the floor in front of Daniel.

"Oh thank you, Vala," he sighed, breathing in the heavenly fragrance.

She laughed. "Let it cool a moment before gulping it, darling."

He counted to thirty in his head before leaning forward with his leashed hands to pick the mug up. Holding it close, he breathed in the steam, then tasted his first sip of coffee in three and a half long days.

With the emphasis on _tasted_. There was that _other_ pot of coffee...

Vala watched his blushing face over the rim of her own cup and grinned. "Thinking of your enema, darling?"

"Yes, Vala," he muttered, taking a gulp that burned his mouth. Vala had prepared it just the way he liked it, a dash of cream and two spoonfuls of sugar.

They sipped and savored for a minute in companionable silence, then Vala said, "Daniel, is this truly a complete surprise to you? This aspect of your nature? Did you never catch a glimpse that you suppressed?"

With the blessed weight and warmth of coffee filling him, Daniel gave the question a bare second's thought and burst out, "Combat training!" in a vaguely surprised voice.

"What about it?"

"Um, it's just that whenever I lost a training bout, I would get, um, you know..."

"No, Daniel." Vala shook her head. "I don't want to guess at your meanings. Remember this is a safe place explore your feelings."

Part of him wanted to roll his eyes at what Jack would've called touchy-feely headshrinker-talk, but a bigger part of him really did appreciate the freedom to speak of things he never normally would have.

"Well, I'd get...hard, you know, my cock would get hard," he specified, face flaming.

Vala arched a brow. "Thank you for answering fully," she said, but then her voice hardened, "but I remind you, I don't like coarse language, Daniel."

Daniel blinked in confusion. "What...?"

"It's called a penis, Daniel," she stated firmly, "and I won't have you using foul language."

His still-aching butt clenching in fear. "But--but, Vala, that's what I call it!"

"That's what you call your penis?" she asked disbelievingly.

Face seemingly colored by a permanent blush, Daniel tried to explain, stammering through his embarrassment so hard he could barely speak, "At the doctor's office, yeah, I'd call it by its--its anatomical term, but--but in a _sexual_ context, when it's--it's, you know, _erect_ , I, well, I--" his voice lowered to a near-whisper and sped up, "I think of it as my cock."

When she didn't respond immediately, he added, "I don't--I don't mean anything bad by it..." He peered up cautiously, but to his relief found Vala smiling again.

"Thank you for making that clear to me, darling," she said. "I would never use that word, but if that's your personal term, I won't interfere." She gave his cheek a brief stroke, then continued briskly, "Any other pet names for your private parts I should know?"

Daniel squirmed, holding the coffee cup up like a protective shield. "Um, I think of my testicles as balls," he muttered quickly.

"And your buttocks?"

Ducking so far his face almost splashed into the coffee, he said, "Um, no, the euphemisms you've been using are fine."

Again a soft stroke came to his overheated cheek and he looked up to see more of that wonderful smile. "You're pleasing me very much right now, sweetheart."

Daniel smiled tentatively in return. This was good. The Domme had her rules, but he could trust her to change them for him if the situation warranted it. All he had to do was explain himself. "Thank you, Vala."

"So, about the combat training," she said, leaning back and picking up her coffee again, "Details, please. Was it only when you lost, never when you won? Only with women trainers, or men too?"

He cleared his throat, taking a fortifying gulp of his coffee and said, "Yes, only when I lost, which was quite a lot at first. I guess I...I can see now that I didn’t allow myself to really think about my reactions. Most combat training was with male instructors, so, yes, I guess it was mostly men, usually ones I trusted the most, like Jack or Teal'c or Lou Ferretti, but-- I don't think I wanted to have sex with them. I just--I just explained it to myself as being desperate for physical contact and ignored it. Told myself not to be so needy. Thanked god for the loose sweatpants." He gave a humorless chuckle.

"Having sexual reactions to men didn't concern you?"

He shook his head firmly. "No, I've never done anything with a man, but I'm not prejudiced."

"And the women trainers?"

"That was mostly Sam," Daniel said slowly. "And she won quite a few of our matches in the early years of SG-1, and, yes, my reaction was stronger than with any man." He shook his head, staring into the cooling coffee. "It wasn't that I wanted to start a relationship with her. I was still married and Sam's always been like a sister to me." He continued to shake his head as if he didn't know how to stop. "I can't really explain but it...it felt safe somehow. But it was wrong to feel that way," he concluded firmly, as if trying to convince himself, "I knew it must be wrong so I didn't let myself feel that anymore."

He looked up at Vala, doubting but hopeful that she could explain his own actions to him.

And found her eyes dark with compassion. "It wasn't wrong, sweetheart," she said softly. "With your dear mother having died so young and your poor wife lost to the Goa'uld, Samantha was the closest thing to a female relative you had. Your reaction was completely natural."

Daniel didn't really understand what she meant, but for some reason his eyes pricked and burned with sudden tears. "But you're here now, Vala."

She leaned down to hold his face double-handed and he didn't try to duck, even when closing his eyes caused his tears to spill out and run down to her fingers.

"Oh my sweet Daniel," she whispered. "So brave but so alone. Yes, I am here now."

He wanted to ask her more about what she meant, but she didn't give him a chance.

"Chore time now, darling. Let's get to work."

And like the last three days, get to work he did. After kitchen cleanup, Vala gave him a bucket and sponge mop and he continued his work on cleaning the dust and grime from all the walls and ceilings in the house, a task that kept him occupied until late afternoon.

As he worked, Vala followed him around, reading from a magazine as before, but the dynamic was different between them. In the past, she must have been very subtle and very quick about her own bathroom breaks, because today she left and returned openly, still not taking a great deal of time, but trusting him not to do anything foolish in her absence.

She lengthened his arm leashes when he asked. Of course it was for ease of wielding the mop, but still, it showed she was willing to begin making adjustments for him, giving him greater freedoms as he showed himself worthy.

And best of all to Daniel's mind, the magazine she chose for the day was another copy of Smithsonian, the Domme reading tidbits from several articles. They laughed together over the 200 year long European fear of tomatoes. They argued over whether South American quipus could be an older form of communication than Mesopotamian cuneiform. They marveled over pictures of visionary airships imagined in the 1800s.

Daniel felt...good. He never minded physical work, even something as prosaic as housework. He had to admit these cleaning tasks were things he always intended to do, he just never stayed here at home long enough to manage them, even on the weekends. And he certainly never intended to hire professional housecleaners; he didn't like strangers intruding on his personal space.

The day’s lunch had been a chicken Cesar salad (finely chopped so he could eat it with a spoon) and late afternoon found him pleasantly tired and finishing up the bathroom ceiling (sparing the same two daddy longlegs of whom he was growing rather fond).

"Leave the mop and bucket for the moment, darling," Vala announced, closing and setting aside her magazine. "I think all that hard work deserves a nice relaxing enema."

Daniel froze in the process of leaning the mop against the wall. Relaxing? Enema? These two words used in the same sentence was still a new concept to Daniel.

Vala stood close, taller than Daniel by an inch or so due his bare feet and her high heels. She cupped his jaw, raising her brows. "Daniel?"

He took a deep breath, consciously choosing not to fight. "Okay. Yes, Vala."

"Good boy." Vala smiled. "Never doubt that I don't understand how hard this is for you."

He ducked his head with a shy smile. "Thank you, Vala."

Once again Vala spun her rope-web around Daniel's nude and trembling body. He couldn't help the trembling. This was the same reaction he'd had yesterday. Something about this scared him, something about the snug cord containing him, encompassing him, Vala's soft and gentle touch smoothing his limbs, the way she seemed to know his body better than he did, just like she seemed to know his mind.

It wasn't that it was dangerous or bad, quite the opposite. And that's what scared him.

Halfway through the enema found him laying panting on his bathroom floor, boneless and so exquisitely submissive, manipulated with effortless precision by his strong and competent Domme.

"How do you feel, darling?" Vala asked, massaging his stomach to relieve the inevitable cramping.

He tried to catch his breath. "I..."

She let a moment of silence go by, stroking his still-sensitive behind. "Please tell me," she asked softly. "Let it out. No more keeping things in until you explode with hostility."

"I feel...safe," Daniel finally whispered, hot tears soaking the towel that pillowed his head. "I...I'm sorry, I don't know why I'm crying, I'm not--"

"Hush, sweetheart, I know why."

And he hushed. Letting her cleanse him, guide him to the tub, bathe him, pleasure him, care for him. If Vala understood why he cried when he felt safe and cared for, then that had to be good enough for him. And why he could possibly feel safe and cared for when someone tied him up on his bathroom floor and stuck a tube up his rear, well, if she said that was okay maybe...maybe it was.

After the bath Vala removed all the karada ropes and applied clean new ones, stroking and soothing his skin as she went. Daniel stood in a haze of post-bath complacency, the bindings weaving snug around him, his Domme casting a net of protection over him.

The rest of the evening passed much as the others had, except that instead of brimming with rage as he had been, he settled into a kind of contentment, at least something that might, if he let it, segue into contentment. Dinner was braised pork loin with cinnamon and applesauce, served on the floor as usual. Kneeling at the side of the couch into the evening, Vala read an article to him about, of all things, one of the most successful American women of the 1920s: a brothel owner in New York City.

When Daniel's sleepy mind began to superimpose Vala's grey eyes and dark hair on the blonde madam in the old sepia pictures, Vala guided him to bed, stopping in the bathroom only long enough to brush first Daniel's teeth and then her own. She slipped into her nightgown as he tottered blinking on his knees beside the bed, then lay down, drawing him into her arms where he passed with a sigh into a deep sleep.

o-0-o

  
Vala lay awake for a time, holding her sleeping boy tight, smiling as she carded his hair. Things were going very well. Daniel was open and receptive at last. It had been nice today. She was finally feeling not like a jailer, but like the Guide she was supposed to be.

She snuggled down with a satisfied sigh, closing her eyes and resting her cheek on his warm head. Tomorrow she would start him on the next stage of his training. She hoped he got a good rest tonight. He'd need it.


	23. In Which Vala Demonstrates a New Use for a Common Kitchen Tool

  
When Friday began the same as Thursday, Daniel wasn't expecting anything new. Well, the outfit Vala put on after her shower was new, to him at least. Like all the clothes she wore this week, it was, if anything, a bit on the conservative side, nothing explicitly provocative about it, simply well-made clothing utterly suited to her sleek body: a thick wool blend skirt in deep burgundy, falling in generous folds to just below her knees, and a white lace eyelet blouse, fastened up with mother-of-pearl buttons.

With the pigtails Vala looked a bit like a schoolgirl, until you noticed the stiletto heels and the decidedly un-innocent gleam in her slate-grey eyes.

Breakfast was artichoke and avocado omelets, but after he'd finished kitchen cleanup duty, there were no household chores awaiting him. Instead, Vala led him back to the bathroom, announcing, "Today we're going to begin deportment training, Daniel."

"Deportment...?"

"Yes, darling."

"Like what, Vala?" Daniel asked with a laugh. "Walking with a book balanced on my head to improve posture?"

"Hmm, that's quite a good idea. I may use that..."

Crap.

"But not today," Vala concluded.

"Good! I mean, yes, Vala. But what--?" He realized he was asking questions without permission and slowed himself down. "I'm sorry, Vala, but to me deportment means things like manners and what fork to use with what dish."

She smiled. "More like how to kneel properly in different situations, how to anticipate your Dominant's wishes, when to be silent and when to speak up, how to serve food."

She saw his worried frown and stroked a comforting finger along his shoulder. "These are things you've already begun to learn, Daniel, I'll just be enlarging on them."

"Okay," he said doubtfully. "I mean, yes, Vala."

"You’re doing very well," Vala continued, "but I'm afraid your biggest fault so far is a tendency to fidget."

Daniel lowered his gaze, feeling like a rebuked schoolboy.

"You're an active man, sweetheart, both physically and mentally, I understand that," she assured him. "Your mind is constantly wandering. But when you're at service to a Dominant, all your energy must be at his or her disposal, none of it squandered on yourself. When you are kneeling at wait your attention must be exclusively on your Dominant and you must be completely and utterly motionless."

Daniel looked back up with a touch of panic, feeling for the first time that he might not be able to accomplish this whole submissive thing. "Completely and utterly...? But I don't think I can do that! What--what if I have an itch?"

Vala gave a sympathetic smile but answered firmly, "You ignore it."

He shook his head speechlessly. God, what if he couldn't do this? And she hadn't even touched on any sexual matters. No, he wasn't scared of that anymore, but he wouldn't be a guy if he didn't have a little performance anxiety now and then.

Her smile softening, Vala cupped his cheek. "No fear, sweetheart, I have something to help you keep focus." And she picked up Daniel’s citrus juicer from where she had put it on the vanity countertop.

Daniel stared at it uncomprehendingly. The thing was part of the bamboo kitchenware set Sam had gotten him as a housewarming present, the same kit that Vala's make-shift paddle came from. The juicer, about five or six inches long in total, it had a short handle and a bulbous ridged head that narrowed to a point, the part that you reamed into a lemon or lime to get the juice out. He remembered she had set it aside on Sunday, but he didn’t understand now any more than he did then.

"This will do quite nicely as a phallus," Vala continued. "It will help you keep your attention from wandering and remind you to hold still."

Phallus? Daniel knew that word to mean symbolic objects carved from stone or wood representing male sexuality in the form of an exaggeratedly large penis, usually in a religious context. Did she mean a ceremony of some kind?

"Vala, what...? I mean--I’m not sure..."

"You are free to ask questions, sweetheart."

"Thank you, Vala. Um, what do you mean by phallus? A ceremony from your temple in Qadesh?"

"Nothing so elevated, I'm afraid. This will be something to hold within you." When he still stared in confusion, she said, "It goes by several coarse names here on Earth, but in short, I’ll be inserting the fat part into your anus where you will hold it for a time span of my choosing."

Daniel’s eyes widened in alarm and incredulous disbelief. Double-damn Sam and her housewarming gifts anyway. “In--insert? In my--my--? But--but that thing’s huge! How--? I don’t think I--!”

"Shh, calm down, darling."

She stroked his cheek again, but he continued to shake his head, babbling in his panic, “But please, Vala, you can’t--! I don’t think I can do that! I don’t think I’m ready for that!"

"Daniel, quiet," she ordered, her smile gone. "I am a qedesha, your Guide and your Domme. I’ve considered the matter and come to the judgment that you are ready for this. Now lean down onto the counter and present your buttocks."

Daniel squirmed in misery, not wanting to disobey her, especially after his promise to cooperate, but not really wanting her to shove something up his rear end. The enema was bad enough. "But, can't--can't you--?"

"No more questions now,” she said implacably. “Just obedience." Then her lips twisted in an amused smile and she continued, "I control every part of you, my Daniel, and every function, the base and the sublime."

"Sublime?" he asked before he could stop himself. Vala angled a hand around and he was immediately rewarded with a stinging smack to side of his rump.

"Poetry, Daniel," Vala said with a smirk. "Have you none in your soul?"

He couldn’t stop a slight smile from breaking through his nerves, although he sure as hell didn't want to analyze the way the smack seemed to calm him down. He took a breath and said, "I apologize for speaking out of turn and for asking a question without permission, Vala."

"Hmm, apology accepted, darling. Now, no more foolishness. As your Domme, I’ve assessed your progress, and I’ve decided you are ready for this.”

Patronizing quirk to her lips aside, she stroked a comforting hand down his arm, looking seriously in his eyes, and he found himself mesmerized as usual. Like a mouse hypnotized by a cobra. No, not a cobra, not a snake, that reminded him of the Goa’uld Qetesh. Vala was the sleek lioness of the pure Canaanite Goddess Qetesh, a predator lethal to her prey, but merciful to her worshipers.

He returned to the moment at the feel of Vala’s warm hand cupping his jaw. Her quirky smile had progressed to a full blown grin and he stared, mesmerized anew.

“Are you prepared to submit to the phallus, sweetheart?”

“I...I..." Well, if Vala said he was ready for it and it would help... “It-- Please, Vala, I have just one more question."

She heaved a theatrical sigh. "All right, darling, just one."

"It--it’s not too big, is it?”

She laughed. “No, darling. Think about it. Bigger things have come out.” As he blushed, she continued, "The ridged part is actually slim as these implements go, and the handle is quite small in diameter. It shouldn’t strain your anus to hold it."

Daniel blushed harder, gnawing his lip. “Um, that’s good. I guess. But I don’t-- I’m not sure..."

She raised her brows. “Thought I heard someone talking about a promise the other day.”

“Just because I said I would try doesn’t make it a foregone conclusion," he mumbled with what he hoped wasn't a pout.

“Darling, it was a foregone conclusion the moment I spanked your butt in your office that day.”

“Um, okay." He took a fortifying breath. "I mean, yes, Vala, I’m--I’m ready to--to submit.”

“Good boy. Now onto the counter and present as ordered, Daniel."

Her voice was uncompromising and pitched for command, and even as Daniel pursed his lips like a fractious child, he found himself in the humiliating position without conscious thought: bent over on the bathroom vanity, chest laying onto the cool granite surface, his eyes squeezed closed. Vala had re-leashed his arms with the longer-length ropes from the day before and he curled his hands up in nervous fists on the countertop beside his shoulders.

Other than brief prostate exams and enemas, nothing had ever gone _in_ there, nothing the size of that juicer at least. He found his body tensing involuntarily. That port was meant for outgoing matter only, damn it, not incoming! But his...Domme, his _Mistress_ had decided otherwise and all he could do was try to obey.

"Let me see your face, sweetheart, I need to judge your reactions," Vala called softly.

Daniel reluctantly lifted his head, tipping his face up so that Vala could see his reflection in the mirror and he could see her too. But he could also see himself, his flushed face, high color in his cheeks, and...eyes dark with blown pupils, mouth hanging open as he panted, nostrils flared with arousal. Arousal? Why was he aroused by something like this? He looked...he looked completely undone...

Glancing higher, he locked eyes with Vala and saw a controlled echo his own sexual upheaval in her rosy cheeks and dark gaze. She stroked her fingers up the crack of his butt, tickling at the top.

The analytical (emphasis on the ‘anal,’ he thought a bit hysterically) part of his brain understood she had placed him like this to force him to look and see himself as he was, as he _now_ was: a submissive lying nude and passive as his Dominant worked at his rear like she owned it, which he supposed she now did...

She directed him to spread his legs, spacing his feet wide, and, scooping out a dollop of Vaseline, she began to stretch and loosen his opening, using first one, then two, and finally three fingers. She took her time, her fingers scissoring gently, her other hand calming him with strokes to his back and thighs.

It was uncomfortable at first, but when her fingers, deep inside him, suddenly brushed across a spot, a sensitive spot of pleasure he'd never felt before, he jumped, bouncing on the countertop, seeing his own quivering skin reflected in the mirror, part of him ashamed, but most of him excited. He had read of the odd gland inside of a man, the prostate, but never really thought it would apply to him. He wasn't gay, and that seemed to be the only time it was ever mentioned in a sexual context. It never occurred to him that it could be stimulated in other relationships.

Vala removed her fingers, wiping them off briefly, then picked up the juicer, applying lube to it before placing the blunt point against his loosened opening. "Relax and let me in, Daniel," she ordered, running her fingers soothingly along his intimate flesh.

His brain may have had reservations, but his body obeyed. He bit his lip, vainly trying to stop a traitorous whimper from escaping as the polished bamboo began to slide in. From the narrowest point, wider and wider it went, Daniel laying wild-eyed as Vala worked steadily, pushing, pulling, twisting. The implacable wood stretching him wide, as wide as Vala’s fingers had, then wider still as the fat bulbous head of the implement eased in, his whimper rising to a panting whine.

"Shh, loose and passive, sweetheart, that’s a good boy," Vala murmured in a soothing sing-song. "It won’t hurt for long, stay relaxed."

Daniel let himself go inert, deliberately flattening himself on the granite-top, breathing out his tension in a throaty huff, letting the stinging pain come as it would, not fighting it anymore, his eyes still fixed on Vala...

Then at last the widest section popped through in a burning flash and he closed around the intruder, spasming and twitching as the handle formed a wooden plug keeping him open. He couldn’t see the make-shift phallus in the mirror but lay in a daze watching his butt-cheeks clench.

Vala slate-gray eyes were black as she watched him too, running her fingers along his skin, around and around the plug. “Oh, that looks so nice," the Domme breathed softly. "So very, very nice..."

She gave the extruding handle a wiggle and the juicer’s head rolled and pushed against his prostate gland. He whimpered as a jolt of pleasure joined the lingering burn, jerking on the countertop, cock awake and throbbing with wild approval even as his rational mind berated him for the shameful spectacle he made.

But Vala didn’t look like she had a problem with the way he looked, her eyes still dark with desire and her lips slightly parted as she breathed.

Okay, this was...a lot more interesting that he thought it would be, but how exactly was it supposed to help him concentrate?


	24. In Which Vala Finds She Loves Jazz Even More Than She Thought

  
“Daniel, stand up,” Vala ordered from behind Daniel.

“Yes, Vala." Daniel stood as ordered, but the phallus was just so distracting, shifting around inside him as he moved. It felt giant out of proportion to its real size and he clenched his muscles experimentally as Vala readjusted his ropes. She had loosened the narrow-width cord of the ball leash and now wound it several times around the juicer handle, locking the phallus into place before reattaching the cord to the jingling rings of the dog collar around his neck.

"Daniel, I’d like you to go into the living room and kneel at rest in your usual spot and wait for me."

"Yes, Vala."

He set off immediately, all his attention on the sensation of his buttocks’ intruder, the handle feeling like a tiny tail as he moved. He sank to his knees at his spot on the rug, leaning back on his heels and spacing his knees as Vala had taught him.

Daniel knelt there for awhile, he wasn’t sure how long or what Vala was doing, the thing in his rear seemed to blot out rational thought. How was this supposed to help him concentrate?

Vala finally joined him, sitting down on the couch with her magazine. He looked up at her, but Vala said, "No, darling, keep your eyes lowered. That's right, just enough to be able to notice if your Domme signals you, but not high enough to be impertinent."

He said, "Yes, Vala," and trained his eyes in the vicinity of her ankles.

"Keep your chin up though...good. Widen your knees a bit. That's right. Let your hands rest against your belly, relax your fingers...yes. Good boy, Daniel. You look absolutely gorgeous. Now remain still, there's a sweetheart."

So he remained still. Breathed, swallowed, blinked as time passed. Wondered why the phallus was supposed to be a good thing. Looked at her shapely lower legs. Didn't look anywhere else. Noted that she was right about being able to see a signal because he could see her turn the magazine pages in his peripheral vision. Didn't try to see what article she was reading or even what magazine. Just remained still.

"Daniel, darling, could you please get me a glass of ice water?"

"Yes, Vala."

He rolled back onto his feet as he rose, once again hyper aware of the phallus shifting about as he walked, wiggling against his prostate like the clapper of an obscene bell, addling him thoroughly. In the kitchen there were clean glasses on the dish rack from breakfast and, using the refrigerator dispenser, he filled one with ice and filtered water. He returned as fast as he could without spilling any liquid, dropping down to his place at Vala’s feet, kneeling upright and offering her the glass with both hands as far as the leashes would allow.

"Very prompt, Daniel, thank you." Vala accepted the glass and took a sip, her lips curled with the hint of a smirk.

"You're welcome, Vala," he responded, relaxing back down into his resting kneel, still wondering what exactly she meant. With the stupid phallus inside him he couldn’t really be good for much, it was so disconcerting. Rather like Vala herself.

The smirk growing, Vala observed, “I must say, your posture is quite improved.”

“Thank you, Vala," came Daniel’s immediate answer.

It registered that she was right, his knees were as wide as she earlier instructed without prompting, his back held tall and straight without the strict enforcement of the ball-leash, his chin up, his eyes down. He also realized he had been holding perfectly motionless in his position without fidgeting, so aware was he of the phallus in his rear...

Frowning, he thought back over his behavior over the past...few minutes? An hour? Longer? His eyes widened. Crap, she was right. The ridiculous thing narrowed his focus, helping him notice and suppress his unnecessary movements.

He tried to muster up an accusatory glare, but couldn’t really work up the anger. It didn’t matter anyhow, what good was glaring at her ankles supposed to do? And Vala wasn’t even looking at him anymore, she was back to reading her magazine. He was pretty sure she was still smirking, but he wasn't about to look up to confirm that.

He knelt in silence once more, letting the feel of the phallus wash over him consciously now, feeling his cock pleasantly at half-mast, his attention slowed from its usual mile-a-minute craziness.

“You’re being a very good boy, Daniel. Go ahead and put some music on, sweetheart, anything you like.”

"Yes, Vala. Thank you, Vala."

God, even rationally knowing how he was being affected by the plug didn’t matter, he was on his feet and padding over to the stereo wanting nothing more than to show Vala how good he could be, how proud he was at the praise and determined to show it wasn’t misplaced.

Well, 'any music he liked' at the moment was anything _Vala_ liked and Daniel put his Jelly Roll Morton collection on without hesitation. While he approved of jazz as a uniquely American form of music, he didn't actually care for it much himself. However, he knew Vala loved it, especially the early musicians from the 1920s and 30s.

He put the disc on, coming back to kneel almost before the ragtime beat of 'Black Bottom Stomp' shimmied from the stereo speakers.

"That’s lovely, Daniel, thank you," Vala said with a brilliant smile. "Very kind of you."

"You're welcome, Vala," he said, blushing. His cock had moved well beyond half-mast at this point and throbbed incessantly now. He could see it bouncing to his heartbeat, so still was he sitting. He wanted...he knew what he wanted. “Vala, I have a question I’d like to ask, please.”

“Not just now, sweetheart.”

She turned a page in her reading. She must be in the middle of an article. Daniel felt bad for having disturbed her. It would be nice if she read something aloud as she had last night, but if she didn't want to, that was her business. So he waited patiently, the syncopated beat of trumpet and clarinet washing over him, the throbbing of his cock and the pressure in his butt merging pleasantly. Vala would turn her attention to him eventually, there was no hurry, there was nothing he needed to say or do. He just enjoyed the moment, floating at peace...

"Daniel." Vala’s voice brought him back to reality. She had set the magazine aside, he didn’t notice when, and he wasn't sure how long she had been sitting there observing him, leaning close with her hands on her knees, but he had a residual feeling it had been a while. Her smile was soft and kind as she asked, “Now, sweetheart, what was your question?”

“I-- Thank you, Vala. Please, it--it’s more of a request than a question.”

"Yes, darling?"

"I-- Please, Vala, I’d like permission to pleasure you the way you’ve been pleasuring me.”

She blinked, straightening up in surprise. "Are you sure, Daniel?"

"Yes, Vala."

She thought a moment, then sighed and said, “Sweetheart, I would like nothing more, but I think..." She took his straining cock in a sure-handed grasp, as if shaking his hand, and he followed her gentle tug into an upright kneel. “I think I’ll clear your head a bit and ask you again.”

He wanted to protest, assure her that he wasn’t about to change his mind, but he was at a loss for words. Besides, she’d find out soon enough on her own.

“Climb onto the coffee table and kneel up, darling, I don’t want to strain my back.”

Daniel complied instantly, climbing up and scooting into the middle of the coffee table to kneel as if mounted on a display table. Vala manipulated him with her hands for a time, slowly, almost lazily, and Daniel watched, hypnotized as her fingers worked along his rigid length, stroking and tugging, squeezing and dragging.

He was close when she suddenly leaned over, the lace of her blouse gaping to reveal the swell of her breasts, and, incredibly, swallowed him down to the root, taking him deep, her generous red lips stretching around his width, the heat of her mouth like a wet furnace.

Daniel convulsed immediately, crying out her name and coming in waves of astonished pleasure, pouring down her throat until there was nothing left of him, until all that he was had been consumed by Vala, taken inside her body where it belonged, where _he_ belonged.

He came back to his senses, tottering on the table top, Vala steadying him with her hands to his shoulders, smiling as she licked her lips. Like the cat that swallowed the canary--or the cream perhaps in this case.

She stroked his face. “All right, sweetheart, you can think a little clearer now, yes? I want to be sure that this is something you truly want to do."

His damp cock hung twitching with the aftershocks, cooling with Vala's spittle, the presence and pressure in his ass still making itself known. “I do-- Yes, Vala, please... Do you not want me to...?”

She put a finger to his lips, her expression intense. “Oh, my dear, yes, I do," she breathed fervently. "More than I can tell you. But not more than I want to safeguard you. I don’t want to take advantage of you. This is a very impressionable stage of your training.”

"I remember you said this week wasn't about titillation for you, but I want to pleasure you, Vala," Daniel stated stubbornly. Then, to make sure he was being perfectly clear, he stated somewhat pedantically, being certain not to use any slang that Vala might consider crude, “I want to bring you to orgasm with my mouth on your genitalia, Vala.”

Vala laughed, tossing her head back.

Okay, not necessarily the reaction one usually wanted when proposing making love, but at this point he wouldn’t complain.

She didn't answer, merely standing to help him off the table, steadying him as he slid down on to his feet, pushing the table away behind him to give him room. Without lifting her woolen schoolgirl skirt, she ran her hands down her hips, shimmying purposefully until her panties suddenly fell into view. They were pale blue with stylized clouds and birds, Daniel noted with a dazed stare. They fell down to her ankles and she stepped out, kicking them to one side.

Then she sat again, reclining back against one arm of the couch. She stretched out her legs, one flat on the cushions, the other propped up along the couch back. Her full skirt fell away, dropping in folds to pool against her groin, exposing her long legs, that same luscious skin he had been so scared to look at in the past.

He wasn't scared now and gratefully looked his fill.

“Show me what you can do, my sweet submissive," Vala whispered, the lips that had so recently contained him curved in a soft smile.

This was all he invitation Daniel needed. He was good at this, pleasuring a woman with his mouth, he knew he was. Sarah had said it was his main attraction, derisively towards the end of their relationship, but truthfully nonetheless. Shau'ri had fairly exploded with surprised ecstasy the first time he had brought her off, ending up the envy of every woman in Nagada. And despite how few partners he had had in his lifetime, he had always loved it, the warmth, the scent, the taste and feel of a woman.

He began at Vala's ankle, nuzzling and licking at the thin and sensitive skin there until, with a hum of approval, she kicked off her stiletto pump. He eagerly lapped her instep and arch, sucking on each individual toe, her gasps and giggles more musical to his ears than the jazz coming from the stereo.

Feeling bold, he climbed onto the couch to give her other foot equal attention, nudging the shoe off with his chin, licking and sucking in full measure. This was what he had wanted when he'd cleaned her shoes the other day, he thought as he nibbled at her big toe, what he couldn't admit at the time.

He shuffled his knees along, moving up to the shapely calves he had been appreciating as she had stepped from her shower this morning. He took his time getting to know those long, strong legs, nosing along and twisting to suckle at the loose skin behind her knees. He was rewarded with more chuffs of laughter, but also, he was pleased to hear, the beginnings of moans.

"Oh, Daniel, that's nice," Vala murmured. "I knew my boy had a clever mouth..."

With languorous feline grace, she shifted, opening to him, moving one leg to the side, foot on the floor and keeping the other high on the couch back. She lifted the tumbled folds of her woolen skirt up and out of the way, revealing her womanhood, releasing a scent that Daniel had been only half conscious of, and he breathed deep.

Vala smelled like Heaven and Earth and everything in between, everything good and sweet and wonderful.

His sated cock reawakening, the phallus in his rump prodding and provoking, Daniel crawled like a hound on the hunt, Vala's scent drawing him along between the alabaster skin of her thighs. He turned his head to either side as he went, kissing and sucking at the soft firm skin covering whipcord muscle.

He didn't, however, suckle hard enough to leave marks. He instinctively knew that wasn't his place.

As he went, Daniel paid close attention to her reactions, memorizing what made her squirm and sigh, creating a mental catalogue that was far more important to him now than any of his mere scholarly compendiums.

At the apex of Vala’s legs lay a thatch of ebony, the gently curling hair of her pubis, the downward pointing triangle culminating in the source of her rich scent. Daniel's pulse quickened as he inhaled deep, nosing the warm creases where her thighs met her crotch, worshiping with his tongue and lips, plowing an elliptical orbit through her soft fur, edging closer and closer to the seat of her mystery.

Vala purred and gave another cat-like stretch, combing fingers through his hair, and he paused, relishing her touch, breathing her in, thinking she wanted to direct him.

But her touch on his head stayed light. "Oh, don't stop on my account, darling," she murmured.

He looked up, peeking over raven-black curls to find grey eyes gone black from blown pupils. When Vala met his eyes he felt her pulse under him, her rich scent deepening and he couldn't wait, he simply couldn't, that smell drove him wild, he had to taste her, had to know...

He ducked low, lapping at her fount, a burst of sweetness exploding in his mouth as she moaned. He dragged his flattened tongue up through delicate lips of flesh to their summit, finding a little knob of flesh, Vala's clit, swollen and protruding from its protective hood. Daniel promptly sucked it up into his mouth, flicking his tongue over it, feeling it pulse again, twitching against his lips.

Vala groaned with pleasure, fingers tightening in his hair, hips rising, thighs shuddering to either side of his head, and Daniel danced the tip of tongue softer and softer as her orgasm rolled on. When she began to relax, sinking back down, gasping and panting, he lifted off, releasing the little nub, knowing it would be overly sensitive now, running soothing lines around it.

Vala's fingers loosened in his hair and she hummed with satisfaction, but Daniel wasn't finished. No, not by a long shot.

He set to work again, licking and mouthing his way back down to her opening.

'Jelly Roll Blues' sounded from the stereo next, the sultry progression of piano and banjo making Daniel smile. ‘Jelly roll’ was old-time slang for female genitalia and the old lyrics about ‘tasting that sweet jelly’ ran through his head.

Vala was definitely sweet, he thought, licking with enthusiasm at her slick skin. Her nether lips were plump and swollen, and he tugged and nibbled gently as he went, branching out occasionally to nuzzle her soft fur, spreading her moisture, loving the way the dark curls glistened now.

God, he wanted to bury himself into her. His cock throbbed thick and urgent, but it would have to wait. This was for Vala, not him.

He teased and twiddled, building her up again, stiffening his tongue as he circled her opening, closer and closer, his own saliva mixing with her come, her entrance swelling, unfurling, gaping, and he dipped in, drawing a dollop of sweetness out, smearing it wide; Vala groaned her arousal, an involuntarily thrust betraying her incipient climax, and Daniel drove his tongue deep, as deep as he could go into the tight, slick opening.

Vala thrust hard, coming with a convulsive jerk, pushing Daniel's mobile tongue even deeper, her groan rising to a cry of pleasure as he probed her depths.

Just as she began to slack off, sinking back down, Daniel pulled out quickly, dragged his tongue hard and heavy back up to her clit, and sucked it deep into his mouth, flicking his tongue-tip against it like a whip.

Vala screamed, arching her hips high, Daniel moving with her, her fingers clenching to the tearing point in his hair, her clit twitching and pulsing in his mouth like a live thing.

Daniel ignored everything but Vala herself, drawing the Domme's pleasure out as long as he knew how, playing her with suction and lips and tongue, keeping her riding high for a long time...until finally hitching groans turned to replete gasps, and Daniel eased off his suction, soothing the now-flaccid little knob as Vala sank down bonelessly into the couch.

He lapped at her lingering sweetness one last time then, licking at his lips, he leaned back and crouched on his knees between her wide-stretched thighs, looking up with an innocent smile at her flushed face.

White lace shirt heaving along with her bosom as she panted, Vala gave him a weak glare. "Daniel," she began, then continued to state accusingly between gasps: "Will you tell me... _Why_... In the name of all that is holy... _In this entire galaxy_... You do not... _Have a girlfriend?_ "

His smile faltered. "I--I'm not sure, Vala."

Vala softened, giving him a tender smile. She cupped his cheek, running her thumb comfortingly over his slick and reddened lips, and focusing her sharp grey eyes so intently on his mouth that Daniel held his breath for a heartbeat, sure she was going to kiss him, scared she was going to kiss him, _hoping_ she was going to kiss him...

But she blinked and shook herself, finally saying, "I know, darling. It's going to get better, I promise," and removed her hand with a last stroke to his chin.

Telling himself he was imagining things, he ignored a ridiculous stab of disappointment. Why would he want her to kiss him anyhow? She was here to help him get his act together, not start a romance. Besides, he couldn't help cheering up to see the color and vibrancy he had brought to her lovely face and, looking smugly at her limp and splayed limbs, he observed slyly, "You look very debauched, Vala."

"And you look very impertinent, Daniel," she responded, but without heat, amending with mock reluctance, "...and gorgeous."

Turning shy, he said, "You too, Vala."

Vala's smile blossomed and she ordered, "Lean back against me." She guided him against the crook of her leg that still rested along the top of the couch, leaving him nestled in her crotch, but turned slightly so that she could see his face. "You, my dear, deserve a reward for that little performance," she announced, untying the leashes that connected his captive hands to the center knot of his karada. "And since I can't give you all the treasures in the galaxy, which would be the proper payment, I will allow you to pleasure yourself."

He blinked at her, startled. "I--me--you-- _myself_?"

She laughed, tying his wrists directly together with the cord, leaving a length just a little longer than the play a pair of handcuffs would give him. She ran a finger up his straining cock. "Yes, indeed, that is exactly what I mean. Show me what you like, how you pleasure yourself."

It had been so damn long since he had indulged in this, one of so many things he had denied himself out of an ever growing need for control. Face flaming with embarrassment, he reluctantly obeyed, running his hands over himself in the old familiar patterns, awkward and nervous at first, but all too soon relaxing as muscle memory took over. He held his gaze on her beautiful face, keeping his eyes open for as long as he could, but before he knew it the sight and smell of her overcame him, and with a twist and a tug he was gone, releasing with a cry, his head falling back, his come splashing over his belly, chest, and throat...

Okay, that was even more embarrassing, he hadn't even lasted two minutes. What was he, sixteen?

Apparently reading his mind, Vala patted his shoulder comfortingly. "You have a lot of time to make up for, darling," she said. Then she grasped his bound wrists and regarded him seriously. "Now, I'm trusting you with your hands this free, darling. You are not to touch yourself without permission. No touches of any kind, and especially no sexual touches. I believe you have an idea of what the punishment for disobedience will be."

"Yes, Vala," he said.

So far her rules were simple and clear, the punishments known and immediate, and the rewards just beginning. He still had some reservations, but he thought this--this Dom/sub thing might be something he could do. Probably. Maybe.

"All right. Let's get cleaned up then. We seem to have made quite a mess of ourselves."


	25. Vala’s Tale of Her Time in the City of Qadesh

 

  
Vala was in trouble. Big trouble.

She swallowed a sigh as she stood at the kitchen entrance, watching the play of strong muscles across Daniel's back and buttocks as he worked at the sink, cleaning up after dinner.

Vala had undertaken this Taming, alone, positive she could counter anything her snarky and reluctant sub could devise. And truly she had: Daniel's anger, his rebellion, his mind games. She had triumphed over his repressed nature and shown him the path to healing, leading him firmly along. Yes, she had weathered everything Daniel had thrown at her...until now. And how had he gotten the upper hand?

With his tongue.

She gave an involuntary shiver at the memory. Oh by the Lady...

How could she have known? Oh sure, she suspected he had potential. She had thought that with some coaching and a lot of encouragement he could be a spectacular lover. But the man was already spectacular, she thought with a rueful shake of her head. She had plenty of experience with talented partners from her time at the Temple, and even allowing that her own feelings for the linguist might be contributing to her strong reaction, she had to squelch another shiver at the thought of the heights he could reach with training. Make that the heights _she_ could reach, she amended internally, still a little stunned.

Her first action after she'd reconnected a couple brain cells was telling. She had meant to unleash Daniel's hands the following day, but his performance moved her timeline up. There was a real risk in trusting him too early, and Vala resigned herself to watching him very closely indeed for the rest of the day. She'd had him serve her dinner and all it would have taken was a plate of hot food thrown in her face for him to get the upper hand. She was positive he would have taken just that opportunity in the first few days of the Taming.

However, potential advantage or not, all was not lost: Daniel was a sub through and through, thank the Lady. It was his nature to give pleasure for the sheer joy it brought to others, freely, with no thought of any profit to himself. He had no idea how affected Vala was, how much power he could gain over her. Just consider the way he had handled himself while pleasuring her. Even when she had arched up in ecstasy, Daniel had made no effort to make it easier on himself and control her the way a non-submissive lover might have. He simply followed her movements, uncomplaining and attentive, never letting that lovely, magical, amazing tongue of his wander from its delicious duty.

As Cameron might say, Daniel used his powers for good, never evil. Heaven help the galaxy if that ever changed.

And, oh, Vala had wanted to kiss him, when he had sat up with that sweet impish smile, the one that so rarely graced his face, she had wanted to share her own taste on the full, yielding lips of the sub, slick and gleaming...

She gave herself a mental shake. Enough. What was she, a teenager experiencing her first orgasm? She was a qedesha of the Temple of Heaven, Guide and Teacher of the Sacred Sexual Ecstasy. Daniel was a Petitioner, involuntary or not. A simple orgasm would not distract her. No matter how amazing..and incredible...toe curling...mind melting...

"I'm finished with the dishes, Vala," Daniel said, padding over to report to her.

"Thank you, Daniel, let's go sit at the couch."

They were just about out of fresh food, so dinner had been a simple but generous affair of stir fried frozen vegetables over penne pasta topped with a jar of meat sauce, along with a few thick slices of garlic toast.

It had been early afternoon by the time Vala had judged Daniel's phallus adventure to be over, and she removed it in a process which turned the submissive scarlet with embarrassment. As late as it was, they skipped a formal lunch, snacking instead on the last of the fresh fruit in the house, some winter apples, and a couple of Daniel's endless supply of energy bars. After some light housekeeping chores, Vala had set Daniel for a three mile run on the treadmill, and she'd spent quite a grand time watching all that lovely skin slowly developing a sheen, culminating in rivulets of sweat wending their way through the karada ropes and down the defined and contoured muscles of Daniel's long legs. After a cool-down session with weights, they took a bath together, unfortunately devoid of panky-hanky: she didn't want to wear out Daniel's admittedly profligate manhood. She had other plans for tonight. He'd been doing very well, but he was due for another push in the right direction.

Before that, however, Vala would be giving _herself_ a push. She suspected the first part of tonight would be as hard for her as the later part would be for Daniel, although in a very different way. Preparing a couple mugs of hot chocolate, Vala directed them into the living room to their customary positions and, once they'd settled down, she took a fortifying sip from her mug. "I believe I promised you more of my history in the City of Qadesh, Daniel," Vala said.

Daniel perked up with an anticipatory smile, setting his own cup aside. "Yes, please, Vala!" Ah, her curious boy. If he were a dog he would have tagged his tail. "I'd really love to hear your story."

She took a breath, organizing her thoughts. This would be personal information she was imparting, things she never would have shared with a Petitioner in the past, but were appropriate now. Daniel had no prior knowledge of Temple practices, and besides, while he might never be more than a friend and teammate, but he was already more than just a Petitioner. Much more... She cleared her throat and began with the basics, saying, "From time immemorial, on my home planet, in the City of Qadesh, we worshipped the Goddess Qetesh."

"The Goa'uld," Daniel stated.

With a firm shake of her head, Vala said, "No, definitely not. She was not a physical person with whom one could interact, but a deity, a supernatural figure, as your major religions worship your Gods today. We didn't know anything about the Goa'uld. We didn't know they even existed."

"Your people must have lived much like the Bronze Age peoples of the Levant," Daniel mused.

Vala nodded at this, sure that the genius kneeling at her feet knew what he was talking about, even if she had no idea herself. She filed his observation away, making a mental note to learn everything Daniel could teach her at a later date.

"As I've said before, the town I was born in was very small, but actually a bit closer to the Chappai’i than the City of Qadesh, but on the opposite side." She shook her head and added dryly, "My father Jacek's idea, no doubt. All the easier for him to sneak off to the Stargate at will. Now, my father wanted me to follow in his footsteps." She gave a haughty sniff of disapproval. "As if! Do you know he wanted me to ‘apprentice’ as a domestic servant to a weapons smuggler?" she asked in outrage.

Not giving Daniel a chance to answer, she continued, "I will admit that many of the, um, 'skills' Jacek taught me came in useful later, but it wasn't at all what I wanted at the time. Now, my stepmother wanted me to stay home and be a good little girl, work hard to attract a man 'foolish enough' to marry me. Her words not mine," Vala specified haughtily.

Daniel attempted to hide a grin behind his mug.

"Oh, the arguments I had with that harpy..." The Domme shook herself. "She despaired of me: I was already twenty years of age, practically an old maid, and I had no interest in household skills at all. According to her, I needed to marry and exchange the tiny mud-walled house of my father for the tiny mud-walled house of my husband. And those houses were very primitive indeed: livestock roaming the courtyard, the kitchen and loom below, the bedrooms above, the children sleeping one thin wall away..."

Daniel regarded her knowingly. "As if those things would be good enough for Vala Mal Doran."

Vala shrugged, pleased with his comment, but not wanting to seem conceited. "I did quite like weaving, though," she finally admitted.

"I noticed," Daniel said, his smile impish as he shifted in his karada.

Vala grinned, trailing a finger down one of Daniel's many ropes, hooking the chest knot and pulling him closer to her in reward, letting him nuzzle against her leg.

"Ultimately, I wanted more for myself than either of them wanted for me," she said. "I wanted it all."

"You ran away to Qadesh," Daniel guessed.

"Yes," she confirmed, taking a few more sips of her drink. "It was only a few kilometers to the city, but I had never gone. So early one morning I packed up everything I owned, at least the nice things." She paused. "Well, at least the things I thought of as nice at the time."

Daniel gave a snort of amusement.

"No impertinence from you, my boy," Vala warned playfully. "I was quite sure I looked like a princess. My own homespun linen tunic, dyed a bright lilac with myrtle, belted up with a silver girdle passed down from my mother. My cloak had toggle pins of ivory from Jacek." She gave a self-deprecating smile. "He told me they were pirate treasure he’d dug up, but they were probably trinkets thrown in on some unsavory deal or other. And of course everything dripped with frills and fringe and colored braiding. You should have seen me."

Looking up wistfully from his chocolate, Daniel said, "I wish I could have seen you, Vala."

"Well, I must admit that I didn't look _too_ much the country-cousin," Vala said with a laugh. "Which was good, because the city was simply amazing, I'd never even imagined anything like it. Houses piled up on top of one another, two, three, _four_ stories high!" She laughed again. "I couldn't understand what held them up and why they didn't fall down. And the markets with foods I had never even heard of before and couldn't wait to try out. Jewelry that looked like the stars had been plucked from the skies. Cosmetics that I couldn't even guess how to apply. And the textiles! Looms ten times the size of my stepmother's making everything from carpets that could withstand the trampling of the cavalry guard, to gossamer sheers so fine I could barely follow the weave. And the Temple... I couldn't believe it."

Vala sighed as Daniel stared transfixed and hanging on her every word, mug of hot chocolate forgotten in his hands.

"I never knew men could aspire to such greatness," she said, shaking her head, still remembering an echo of her childish awe. "That a mere building could reflect the majesty of the Gods themselves. The Temple of the Stars of Heaven... The limestone walls were polished smooth as glass and blazed pure white in the late afternoon sun. The pylons at the entrance towered so tall I thought the Goddess herself must have placed them. The courtyards were a maze of pillars and arched walkways, stairways and gates, gardens and cloisters. There were bathhouses for pilgrims and two long colonnades filled with apses dedicated to different purposes. And in the inner sanctum, the Holy of Holies. The altar there was decorated with such fine carvings and scrollwork that I thought real vines and flowers covered the great chamber when I first saw it."

She paused to sip at her cooling chocolate. "But more than mere architecture, were the qedesha, I couldn't keep my eyes off them. It was very obvious that Nikkal and Eser were in good company.”

“Those were the two you meet as a child?” Daniel asked.

“Yes, but at the Temple, I saw hundreds of qedesha, men and women of all ages, all joined by an otherworldly grace and the desire to give of themselves. They wore traditional robes of white, representing their purity of purpose. The Dominants bore trim of vivid blue, the color of sky and spirituality. The submissives' trim was a rich crimson symbolizing the earth and the blood which makes life possible."

Vala shook her head with a smile. "But I would have known who was who without any hints," she said. "It was unmistakable. The Dominants strode with such confidence, never arrogant but always keeping a protective watch over things, always ready to defend those in need. And the subs seemed to glide along they were so graceful. Alway so shy and retiring yet they unfailingly turned up where they were needed, and they were unrelenting when they knew they were right."

"Where you accepted into the Temple right away?" Daniel asked breathlessly.

Vala smiled, giving her sub a stroke to his cheek. "No, but I did get a job at the inn next door."

Daniel blinked. "Oh."

Vala laughed. "I knew from the first time I saw it that the Temple was the place for me, the place where I wanted to spend my life, but they hardly hired people in off the streets, even if they had  
lovely fringe-work and ivory toggles on their cloaks."

Daniel smiled in response, but he still gave a disgruntled huff. "They should have known your worth just by looking at you," he grumbled.

Ah, a sub's faith in his Domme... An ego-boost to be sure, but Vala knew enough not to let it go to her head.

"I tended bar for a year or so at the inn, then I got lucky with a housekeeping job in the Temple itself. After several months of that, I become a Petitioner and in the next three years I worked my way up through Novitiate and finally to Initiate."

"Wait--!" Daniel's brows rose in disbelief. "You were a _barkeep_?"

Vala cocked her head. "That's all you got from what I just said?"

"No! But--but-- You went from _barkeep_ to _priestess_?"

Tossing her head back, Vala gave a merry laugh. "Tending bar was quite instructive," she insisted. "I spoke to so many people. Parents needing a stiff drink after dropping their children off for Guidance. Petitioners celebrating the successful completion of their Training. Novitiates out for one last fling."

Daniel just shook his head, regarding her with an admiring grin.

Vala took a breath, pausing in her story to marshal her thoughts. "Now, in later years I came to understand that originally the Goa'uld Qetesh brought my people to that planet, but when I grew up it had been generations, centuries since she had visited. My people may have used the Goa'uld impostor as the jumping off point, but we developed our own culture and religious practices. I believe that our worship followed the true spirit of Qetesh in a much purer expression. She was worshiped as the Goddess of Nature, Sacred Ecstasy and Sexual Pleasure. She was the manifestation of the joy and fulfillment of sex, the promise of it."

"This sounds very close to the ancient Canaanite Goddess," Daniel said, eager as always to share his knowledge. Just as eager to hear it, Vala motioned him to continue. "Long before the Abrahamic religions vilified and replaced the polytheistic Gods of old, Qetesh was adopted by New Kingdom Egyptians and assimilated into their existing pantheon, mainly worshipped as an aspect of--" Daniel deflated with a wince, "Hathor."

With a soothing carding of his hair, Vala observed softly, "And I hosted Qetesh. Darling, I understand how hard this is for you and I'm so proud and grateful that you're letting me in behind your defenses, letting me help you."

Daniel leaned into her touch for a second, then said, "Originally, though, Qetesh was seen as a sensuality goddess."

"Yes," Vala confirmed. "It was the Egyptians who mixed up her with that dreadful cow Hathor's tiresome fertility and childbirth nonsense. As if one can't have sex without the goal of procreation. Nonsense."

Daniel gave a bemused smile. "I...can't really argue with that, Vala."

"Why would you want to?" Vala asked with mock-confusion, then continued, "What else do you know of the original Qetesh?"

"Um, Qetesh was always represented in a special full frontal stance, so different from the profile view traditionally used in Egyptian art. She held a lotus flower in one hand representing the female essence, and male symbology in the other hand: two snakes representing the testes and, um, phallus..."

"Not a lemon juicer?" Vala asked with a smirk.

Daniel blushed deeply, then jumped and voiced an abortive moan when Vala leaned over to stroke his rump, dipping in to touch the sensitive skin which had been stretched so wide. "Anything else?"

"Um," he began, a little breathlessly, "she typically stands riding on the back of a lion or lioness. This may represent her prehistoric warrior aspect as the Protector of Women."

"Hmm, very interesting. And quite close to my people's interpretation." She sat up, a bit reluctant to let go of Daniel, and continued her story. "Now, as I said, after centuries of isolation, the people of Qadesh developed their own philosophy of sexuality. Basically, sex is good." She grinned. "It can be sacred or it can be a romp in the wheat."

"Hay," Daniel said.

"Excuse me?"

"Romp in the hay, Vala."

"Oh. That kind of hay. Sorry, sweetheart, I thought you were being impertinent."

"Never, Vala," he promised.

"Never, hmm? Regardless, our interpretation of Qetesh was a celebration of sexuality of all kinds, and the worship of the Goddess in all her aspects."

"The eternal triad," Daniel supplied. "The Maiden, the Mother and the Crone. Or more universally, Love, Life and Death."

"We chose to celebrate mainly the Love aspect." Vala said with a smirk.

"You don't say?" Daniel murmured, picking up his mug again.

"Domination and submission is intrinsic to human sexuality," Vala said, her voice taking on a bit of a lecturing tone, "and we of the Temple, the qedesha, received worthy Petitioners, Guiding them through a process of understanding and acceptance of their true natures."

Vala swished her mug, trying to get as much of the chocolate sediment up from the bottom as possible before taking another swallow. "More than that, though, the qedesha, over a thousand strong, ministered to the sick and infirm, the poor, those in need. We lived and worked for the most part in the Temple's two stoa."

"Stoa? Those were the colonnades you mentioned, right?"

"Yes. One was a fairly quiet place, holding the administrative chambers, an Elders' Retreat, and infirmary. The other was much livelier. It held a Children's Center, several Petitioners' Cloisters, the Dom and sub Apses, and various chapels and naves. Below were the qedesha sleeping chambers and playrooms."

"Playrooms?" Daniel asked in confusion.

Vala grinned and tugged suggestively at his heavy collar. "You know, darling, _playrooms_."

"Oh...." Daniel swallowed hard, his eyes wide in speculation.

"There was quite a lot of ceremonial sex, but sometimes we just needed to...play."

The brand new sub didn't seem to know what to say to that, so Vala continued. "We were ruled by a Quorum of Seven and they met in Quorum Apse, in the center of the Administration Stoa."

"And the _Dominants_ ruled, right, Vala?" Daniel asked with a bitter little pout.

Ah, would she ever get tired of that delightful pout? Hmm...no. Definitely not. "Sweetheart," she said out loud, "what did I say about what _kind_ of submissive you are?"

"Um... Sexual?"

"Exactly."

"So...in non-sexual matters, the submissives had equal rights?"

Vala nodded with a smile.

"The subs had ruling positions?" he asked incredulously.

"Yes," she said firmly. "In fact for Quorum Head, most wouldn't vote for a Dominant. The thinking was that only a submissive could truly be trusted to do the right thing. During my time there, the Quorum Head was a submissive woman called Athirat."

Vala paused, suppressing the pain Athirat's memory inevitably brought, clutching tight at her mug. "She was named for the Mother Goddess, the Walker of the Sea. Oh, she was so beautiful," Vala sighed. "We were all a little bit in love with Athirat, men and women, Dom and sub alike. Eyes deep and green as the ocean, hair of burnished bronze shot through with silver like sea-spray. She moved like fresh flowing water, rolling over you, somehow touching every part of you at once, so attentive that a Dom felt like the center of her universe. And yet..." Vala raised a rueful brow, "in the Quorum Apse she'd cut off your, _ahem_ , genitalia if you crossed her."

Daniel gave a pensive smile. "I would have liked to have met her, Vala."

"I know she would have loved you, darling," Vala said warmly. "It was Athirat who recruited me. She noticed me one day in the submissives' Cloister when I was still working in housekeeping. I'd been delivering a stack of fresh linens when one of the Petitioners, a girl a few years older than me, came running past, crying. I managed to stop her flight, getting her to sit and talk to me until one of the qedesha Doms came by and took over. Athirat was impressed that while I stopped her from leaving, I didn't touch or threaten the girl in any way. I simply kept her calm and talking until someone more knowledgeable took over."

"How did you do it, Vala?" Daniel asked, both curiosity and admiration in his voice.

Vala chuckled. "I pretended to drop the stack of linen. It's been my experience that subs are suckers for people in distress."

She raised her brows significantly at Daniel who looked put upon, huffing quietly, " _Sure_. 'Sucker' would be a figure of speech you have down pat."

"Regardless, the poor girl was confused and distraught, homesick for her family but at the same time wanting to stay at the Temple and make them proud. After talking it over with the lead Dominant, she ended up persevering through to the end of her Guidance. She wrote me a year later, thanking me and telling me all about how happy she was with her husband and newborn baby."

Daniel cocked his head. "So most Petitioners simply stayed at the Temple for a short time to gain perspective on their lives, while others, like you, stayed on to become qedesha."

"Exactly," Vala confirmed. "I knew I could go in for simple Guidance anytime, but I wanted more than that, and I wanted it on my terms. Athirat assessed me herself and said I had great potential. By the next day I had moved into the Dominant Petitioners' Cloister, beginning the first step on my way to eventually becoming a qedesha and Guide."

"But, Vala, how do you Train to be a Dom?" Daniel asked with a confused frown. "Do Doms Train each other?"

"Heavens, no. We'd kill one another inside a day. Athirat honored me greatly by saying she would have Trained me herself, but while I love making love to a woman, I much prefer men. She passed me on to one of the lead male subs for Training."

Daniel stared in disbelief. "So, a _sub_ Trained _you_?"

"Yes, darling," Vala confirmed gently. "It was a different process than what you've undergone here, but just as strenuous." Daniel eyed her doubtfully and she had to squelch a smile. "I assure you, sweetheart, we are all of us Petitioners at some point in our lives. It was all just as new to me and I was just as unsure as you are now."

Daniel still didn't look convinced. "But it's easy to be a Dominant, Vala," he claimed peevishly. "You just tell the sub what to do and he has to do it."

Vala cupped his cheek fondly. "Darling, imagine being in complete physical control over someone, holding his life literally in your hands." Daniel frowned with incomprehension. "Imagine a badly tied restraint crushing a nerve or breaking a bone, a misaimed whip stroke scarring or even blinding, a carelessly fastened gag choking or worse, suffocating the victim." Daniel's eyes had grown wide as comprehension dawned. "And further imagine that the person whose life you hold in your hands would try his best to never complain, no matter what. He would never willingly tell you when something was wrong, he would do anything to please you, even at the cost of his own life, even unintentionally."

Daniel swallowed, looking faintly sick. "I'm sorry, Vala," he whispered. "I--I didn't think it through."

"I know, sweetheart," she said, smoothing his brows with a stroke of her fingers. "It's all right. That's _my_ job."

The sub didn't reply, simply looking up at his Domme with new appreciation.

"For my Trainer, Athirat picked someone who knew me from several years in the past."

"Eser!" Daniel guessed. "So he _was_ a submissive!"

"Yes," Vala confirmed, a memory of Eser's vibrant hazel eyes crinkling in a soft smile passing through her mind.

"What about Nikkal?" Daniel asked. "She was a Domme, right?"

"Yes, she was a Domme," Vala said. "Unfortunately, Nikkal had passed on to the Goddess during childbirth. The babe died within her and all Eser's healing skills couldn't save her."

"That's too bad," Daniel said, subdued.

Vala nodded. "Eser retreated, spent a year in seclusion. But when Athirat asked him, he returned to Train me." She smiled. "He recognized me at once, said he knew I'd come back to harass him again some day." Vala drained off the last of her drink and set the mug aside on the coffee table, saying with a smirk, "Although from my point of view it was more _him_ harassing _me_. He was a perfectionist and demanded the same of anyone he Trained."

Vala shook her head fondly. "I thought I was so good with ropes, but Eser escaped every time, tossing the cord back at me with the same infuriatingly impish smile. It was months before I finally tied a knot that conquered him. That was...quite a lovely afternoon." Her smug smile turned introspective. "He told me later that he felt as if he'd woken up that day for the first time in over a year. I was so proud to have brought him that peace.

"I'm sure you can imagine that the winnowing process for Dominants was very strenuous indeed, but I was stubborn and Eser was patient, and three years later I was initiated into the Dominant ranks of the qedesha, and began my service."

"You must have been very proud of yourself," Daniel observed with a smile as he finished off his own chocolate.

"Oh, I was," Vala assured him. "I felt a part of it all. The Temple was such a force for good, and the City of Qadesh prospered under the Quorum's guidance. Of course I'm not claiming our planet was perfect. We had our troubles like any other human endeavor: greed, crime. Witness my father Jacek," she specified dryly.

"But still and all," she continued, "it was a lovely time: there were festivals, most of them sexual of course." Daniel raised his brows in mock-disbelief. "Ceremonies to initiate virgins, the poor dears." Daniel rolled his eyes. "Weddings to be conducted, memorials to officiate, births to oversee. And then--" she paused at a painful constriction of her heart, but continued determinedly, "And then there was Debir, my fiancé."

Daniel raised his brows cautiously. "Debir?"

"Ours was an arranged marriage. He was what you would call a Switch here on Earth, I believe, one who enjoys being both Dom and sub. Ours was to be a Cluster marriage: after a time of getting to know one another, we would invite subs and secondary Doms to join us, forming a large extended family living in cooperation. Our wedding day was a month away, and we were just beginning to explore one another, to fall in love--"

Vala broke off, putting a hand to her mouth, memories like nightmares tumbling through her head, released from their usual strict confines. As Daniel crowded close in support, sensing what was coming, Vala breathed carefully until she could speak again.

"Debir was so...alive, so curious," she finally said, voice growing hoarse. "He wasn't qedesha, but he had sought Guidance at the Temple in the past. He was a year younger than me, a woodworker. He could make magic with his hands, coax the inner beauty out of the most common piece of wood. And in the bedroom, he'd do anything, try anything." She gave a choking laugh. "He played the submissive so well for me, but he looked forward to inviting a real sub or two into our Cluster."

There was a thick silence, then Vala said flatly, "It was a bright clear Spring day when the Goa'uld Qetesh landed in the City. For the first time in at least half a millennia Jaffa troops marched through the streets and into the Temple. They rounded up the Quorum and all the qedesha they could find. The Goa'uld took me--" Vala broke off again as her voice hitched, but she swallowed and went on, "She left her old host, left the woman dead and falling to dust on the courtyard floor, and she _took_ me. Then she killed Athirat."

"Oh, Vala," Daniel said in a broken whisper. "I am so, _so_ sorry..."

Tears brimmed and spilled from Daniel's eyes, but Vala had not cried in years and wouldn't allow herself now. She let the expressive and passionate man at her feet do it for her, and dry eyed, continued evenly, "I knew it wasn't me doing those terrible things, even in the beginning. I always knew it. I always understood it was Qetesh-- No not _Qetesh_ , but the Goa'uld, the _snake_ , not _me_ doing those things, those...awful, hideous things. But to see my own hand, to see the look in their eyes as they died... It still hurts. I can still see it...feel it."

Her eyes fixed unseeingly across the room, Vala said, "Debir came next, staring at me in confusion, in betrayal. Then came the rest of the Quorum and anyone else of any importance in the City. Qetesh ransacked my mind, looking for ways to hurt my people, to hurt me." She gave a brittle smile. "Jacek was too wily for her, he was long gone by the time she turned her attention to my old town."

Vala blinked and took a shuddery breath. "Ten years... _Only_ ten years, hmm?" She grinned with false brightness, Daniel watching her solemnly. "And then came the revolt. I was very lucky, so very lucky indeed. Well, the Tok'ra incited their little rebellion, and everything went off without a hitch. Except..." She shook her head, the false smile fading. "So much had been lost, even in that short time. Qetesh's reign destroyed our culture, her rule was a travesty of our traditional teachings, a perversion. After the revolt, my people were devastated, there was no true leadership. Survival of the fittest I believe you call it? And I am here to testify that only the strongest did indeed survive, having been tortured and beaten by them for days on end. They didn't understand that it was the symbiote responsible, not me... Or they didn't care."

Refocusing on the pale sub at her feet, Vala caressing him with a tenderness at odds with the harsh story she told. "I believe you know the rest. The Tok'ra agent felt responsible, he rescued me, removed the Goa'uld symbiote, nursed me back to health, et cetera, et cetera."

"Vala..."

"You were right, you know, what you said back on the base that time. The whole sexual defense mechanism thing?" She waved a careless hand. "Yes, I lived a solitary existence, moving from place to place, using sex as a weapon to prevent myself from forming any real relationships. The Goa'uld's use of me was such an abomination of our culture, yet so close to the Temple life I had led, that I couldn't help associating the two in my mind. I couldn't begin to think of even the simplest friendship, much less providing Guidance to someone in need." She leaned over to cup the sub’s cheeks double-handed and wipe his tears away with her thumbs. "Until you, my Daniel."

They sat quietly for a long time, crowded close together, offering and receiving comfort, each to the other. Vala had no doubt that Daniel was thinking of his dear Shau'ri, while Vala carefully retrieved the memory of Debir, allowing herself a moment to linger over his shock of blond hair and his insouciant grin before placing it back into the safekeeping of her heart.

"The past can't be changed," she stated, "but we _can_ change the future."

She shook off the melancholy with a determined shrug of her shoulders, she shook it away just as she hoped Debir would do for himself if their positions had been reversed.

"We can live our lives to the fullest, every moment," Vala said, meeting Daniel's startled eyes intently. She wouldn't let sadness from the past destroy the future, not for herself and certainly not for Daniel. "Starting with right now. Story-time's over. I have a new exercise for you. Fetch one of the kitchen chairs and bring it into the bedroom."


	26. Daniel Gets a Lesson in Relinquishing Control

 

  
Daniel blinked at Vala’s change of mood, but answered her genuine smile with a tentative one of his own as he rose to his feet. He did as she asked, following her into the bedroom and placing the chair at the bedside.

"Do you remember how you played with yourself earlier?" Vala asked, working at the bed, piling up pillows against the headboard.

"Um, yes, Vala, that’s kinda hard to forget."

"Indeed, my impertinent boy, but you may find this even more so."

Vala directed him to kneel at the head of the bed, partially leaning back against the pillows. He looked very charming indeed, holding himself stiff with nervousness, but still trying his best to please her. Vala sat on the chair and crossed a leg over, leaning forward and resting one elbow on her knee. “You will pleasure yourself as before, but with two caveats. You are not to take any action without my explicit direction, nor are you to come without permission."

Daniel's eyes widened with alarm and he gave a nervous little lick to his lips. Vala had to smother a grin. Playtime with her sweet sub was simply too delicious.

"Any action...?" he quavered. "Vala, I would like to ask a question, please."

So polite, her boy. “Yes, dear heart?”

"Do you mean you'll be giving me general directions? Or-or that I can't make any touch at all without your say-so?"

"Any touch at all," Vala specified. "I believe you heard me say 'explicit direction' and I know you know what that means." She put a touch of steel into her voice and Daniel responded with a dropped gaze and another nervous lick to his lips. "You will only take actions as specifically instructed, nothing more, nothing less."

"Yes, Vala. I'm sorry, Vala."

"Good boy. Now take your penis with your left hand and your testicles with the right... Good."

Face flaming in the bright overhead light, Daniel obeyed. Vala had left the light on for the same reason she had sat down at a distance from Daniel in the chair. This exercise was designed to train him in total submission, not just when his Domme acted upon him physically.

"Now squeeze and roll them gently. That's right."

She began slowly, instructing him in similar actions to what she had seen him provide for himself earlier, but just different enough to keep him off balance, make him squirm. And squirm he did. She had him pinch his nipples, card his fingers through his pubic hair; she directed him in which hand and fingers to use, and exactly where to stroke and exactly how hard: feathery teasing at the contracting skin of his testicles, firm and sure along the proud, stiff flesh of his manhood.

She wanted Daniel to succeed in this. It wasn’t a trick to force a punishment, not that Vala was adverse to delivering needed punishment. But this was a lesson in surrendering himself to her. Surrendering that iron control he hid behind, had tied himself up with. And not in a good way, she thought with a smirk. Daniel had tied himself up tighter than any karada she could possibly weave, and now it was up to her to unwind him and Guide him back to the submissive joys that were his birthright.

Her responsive boy was hard in a minute flat, and leaking not long after that, no longer red from embarrassment, but arousal. Biting at his full lower lip, he sank back into the pillows, clenched muscles relaxing, eyes unfocusing. This would be Daniel’s third orgasm of the day and he didn't appear to be slowing down in the slightest.

"Do you feel that vein down there on the underside of your penis, Daniel?" Vala asked in a soft purr. "Yes, that one, so rigid and thick. Follow it up. Slowly. Slower, darling, follow every twist and turn. Yes, good."

Her hands itched to touch him, to join him in his intimate exploration of that velvety flesh... She ignored the impulse and instead rose briefly to release the tie holding Daniel’s hands together, being careful to keep her touches to a minimum. "Pause just a moment, darling, I want you to sit back. Yes. Sit on your butt and draw your legs up. That's right. Spread your knees wide. Good boy."

Oh, he was gorgeous, the bindings on his wrists trailing through the sweat-soaked skin of his groin, splayed and open and looking to her for direction, for purpose.

"Lean back a little farther and curl your butt up a bit. Yes, good. Now keep up a slow pump of your penis with your right hand... Perfect, darling. Take your left hand and run your fingertips down below your testicles..."

She was positive he had never included his perineum or anus in his play before. And now, as she guided his exploration of those sensitive places, as he stroked and fondled as ordered, he bucked with astonished pleasure, the bed creaking as he moaned.

He was close now.

"You’re leaking, sweetheart. Use the index and middle fingers of your left hand and gather it up. Yes. Now suck your fingers clean. That’s right."

Another thing he had obviously never done, and the dazed and muffled groan Daniel voiced made Vala’s own sex pound with warmth, only her strict control keeping her from shifting and grinding on the hard chair.

"Does it taste good, darling?"

An inarticulate moan answered her.

"Your fingers are nice and wet now, yes?" she asked, her voice throaty with desire even to her own ears. “Now place those two fingers at your anus, Daniel."

He stared at her in thrall, panting, mewling, obeying blindly.

"Now push them inside yourself. Yes. Just like that."

He tottering at the cliff-edge of orgasm, holding back his release on her order, helpless in the face of her Dominance, pupils blown and black, nostrils flaring, breath hitching with a whine of need, vulnerable and helpless in his passion. His training had barely begun and already he instinctively needed her permission, was rudderless without it.

"Now, Daniel," she breathed. "Come now, thrust deep and pump hard and come for me, _now_."

And come he did. He came apart, arching and jerking so hard the bed frame thumped on the floor, painting his karada with ropes of cream, calling her name with such hoarse urgency that Vala had to drive fingernails into her palms to resist rushing to the bed and pressing herself to him, joining him in ecstasy. But again, as always, Daniel’s training took precedence over any indulgence of her own and Vala remained on the chair, speaking soothing nonsense as the sub’s gyrations slacked off, verbally guiding his hands in caresses of self-comfort, then finally to stillness.

When Daniel lay in a boneless pile of weak and splayed limbs, gazing up at her in a stupor, Vala fetched a moistened cloth from the bathroom and wiped him clean. She quickly changed into her nightgown and then, and only then, she climbed into bed, gathering him up into her arms where he belonged, holding him with a fierce possessiveness, a possessiveness she was afraid to admit to, even to herself.

Daniel clung to her wordlessly, burying his nose into her hair, just breathing her in...the highest compliment a sub could pay his Domme.

 

 

 

 

 


	27. Daniel Wakes Up in a Bad Mood

 

  
It was Saturday mid-morning and Daniel felt...out of sorts. He had all day.

He’d spent the morning thinking, thinking hard (hey, it’s what he did), and he just couldn’t help the feeling that this whole submissive thing was wrong for him, it _had_ to be. Oh, he'd listened to all of Vala’s reasonings as well as the urgings of his own body, and every individual thing made perfect sense, he couldn’t argue. But nevertheless he couldn't stop the feeling that it proved some intrinsic weakness in him, that being submissive made him less of a man.

Last night when Vala had directed his movements as he masturbated, he had felt more exposed than at any time in his life, more than any mere nudity could account for. It was one thing when a partner participated in love-making, even taking in a dominant role, like Vala's hand jobs. But when she had sat there, separate from him, not touching him, orchestrating him in the most...wanton, shameless display of his life. His face flamed as red as a paddled rump at the thought of the spectacle he'd made, the way he'd writhed around fondling himself like some low-rent porn star. It was too much.

And yet...it felt so good. And that's what scared Daniel the most. He had that "out of control" feeling again, the feeling that had plagued his sexual liaisons his whole life.

Being tied up and told what to do, even being tied up and punished, was one thing. But last night had been voluntary, he'd been voluntarily cooperating in an intimate, private activity. Was it really reasonable to give up so much of himself to Vala? What kind of man would do that? What did it say about him? Could he really surrender control of his own life like this? Should he?

Regardless of his thoughts, he'd been cooperative this morning, if a little quiet. He wondered if Vala had noticed his introspection, but she had made no comment so far.

They were running short on food and breakfast was a 'scraping-the-bottom-of-the-barrel' kind of affair: Vala had used canned chicken to whip up a salad, serving it open-faced on the last of the stale sourdough bread, toasted and topped with melted cheese. The Domme said she had placed another order with the grocery service and expected a delivery soon.

Daniel processed a load of laundry, pleased that Vala had finally left his hands free this morning. The four-line catches still encircled his wrists, but they weren't connected together or to anything else. She had tied them off with a couple inches of hanging cord wiggling around as a constant reminder of his qualified freedom.

 _Pleased?_ his rational brain snarked at him as he carried a set of clean sheets to the bed. _You're pleased that your jailer left you 'free' to do her bidding? Housework? Are you a man or a maid?_

Well, the place was pretty dusty--

_You're a triple doctorate!_

Vala's been helping out too, he countered. She's cooked every meal, she's seen to my every need--

_She shouldn't be here at all! And neither should you! You should be at the SGC, at your desk and working hard. That's what you do, right? You work. What else are you good for?_

Daniel had no real answer to that, merely the nebulous feeling that maybe there should be more to his life, as well as a sulky observation that he was supposed to be on vacation.

 _You don't take vacations,_ came his brain’s firm response. _You don't need them._

Everybody needs--

_Not you._

Frowning ferociously as he smoothed out the bedspread, he shook his head to stop his whirling thoughts. This was getting him nowhere. Just then Vala called him into the bathroom.

"There you are, darling!" she said as he entered.

That morning Vala had dressed in her brown pants and heeled boots, along with a colorful ethnic-print tunic top in rust orange, the scoop-neck collar leading up to form straps which left her arms bare. She had let her hair hang loose, the jet black waves framing the tanned curves of her elegant neck.

She was stunning and the sight of her cheered him up, which led to his rational brain insisting that the sight of her _shouldn't_ cheer him up, which led to Daniel standing there in dispirited confusion, feeling that he should be happy right now, but unable to figure out why he wasn't.

"We're ready for my favorite thing, now," Vala continued. "Oh, I’ve been waiting all week for this!"

The Domme sat on the edge of the tub and Daniel watched rather nervously as she pulled more of the skinniest cord from her bag of tricks.

"Stand at ease in front of me, darling, nice and close."

Vala had instructed him in a few poses earlier that morning. Standing at attention involved lacing his fingers behind his head and pulling his elbows back as far as he could. This was a strain for him and he could see that it would take a lot of practice to get that limber. ‘At ease’ was much easier, as the name implied: he was to cross his arms behind his back, gripping his hands on the opposite elbows. Both poses required his feet to be placed a bit wider than shoulder width.

"Yes, Vala," he murmured, doing as she asked.

His cock took a pleased interest to be so close to Vala's mouth, but the Domme only gave him a knowing smirk. She released the cord running through his crotch and began to tie it off more firmly around his cock and balls replacing the informal loop she used before. The new tie basically formed a cock ring, not that Daniel was versed in these things.

He jumped a bit as she tightened it down and Vala ran a soothing hand along his hip. "Shh, darling, I won't go too tight. Are you familiar with rings of this type?"

"I think so, Vala. I've heard of them."

"They can be used to force an erection and prevent orgasm, but that's not my purpose today."

She finished, reattaching the line back up to the lowest line of his karada harness. The rope ring was snug but not uncomfortably so, and it was definitely contributing to a pleasant tumescence. The other end of the line she didn't change, not yet at least: it still ran up his butt crack to the back side of the harness.

"Now for the fun part." Vala held up the thin-width cord she had pulled from the bag. It looked like a miniature karada, a small pre-knotted double line. Using the ring she had just formed and handling his cock with gentle but expert hands, she proceeded to weave a tiny little karada just for the cock itself.

Well, not _that_ tiny, of course, he amended with an internal sniff of masculine pride, but compared to his harness it was a delicate little web.

Wait a minute. 'Pre-knotted'? Just how far in advance had Vala planned this week?

The Domme's touch produced its usual effect on his already awakening cock, but she worked fast, weaving and tying off the mini-karada just under his cock's flared hood. "I do believe your penis likes this, Daniel," she observed. She stroked and examined the cord lines as he burgeoned. "Oh my, that looks so very, very nice. See how you strain and bulge around the bindings?" A red-nailed finger traced along the cord's delicate knots. "Every diamond forms a delicious little morsel of flesh..."

At Vala’s hungry gaze Daniel swelled further. The net encapsulating his cock should have been painful, constricting, but Vala’s minute adjustments eased any dangerous tightness, distributing the tension, leaving him feeling as if his cock lay in a strong and firm grasp, as if Vala held him implacably yet mercifully.

He found himself firming his stance, arching his back and pushing his groin closer to the seated woman.

"Good boy, Daniel," Vala said, looking up at him with an encouraging smile and a stroke to his thighs. "You can never go wrong by following your instincts."

She turned her attention to his unadorned balls, handling them thoughtfully for a moment as if inspecting a pair of plums for ripeness at the market. "I’ll see what I can devise for your poor naked testicles next time," she remarked. Finalized the little harness, she left the cord's tail-ends hanging down to his mid-thigh and gave them a gentle tug. "Very decorative. I should have brought some beads or bells, though. Oh well." She gave his thigh a light swat. "Over to the counter now and present your rump."

Oh no. That could only mean...

Yes, no sooner had he lain on the countertop, than Vala began to prepare him as she had yesterday, gently but inexorably inserting the make-shift wooden phallus.

Daniel lay there as the juicer popped into place, his anus burning with a pleasant sting, trying to get a handle on his wildly gyrating feelings.

It felt...good. Just as it had yesterday. So why was he fighting this?

Vala adjusted the crotch cord, looping it around the juicer's knob and reattaching it to the main harness. As she manipulated it, the cord tugged at the ring around his genitals, making his cock throb all the more.

The two elements worked in conjunction, the phallus filling him, somehow holding him from the inside, the little penis karada holding him from the outside. It was as if Vala held him steady, lending him her control at all times, even when she wasn't touching him.

And Daniel loved it. It was everything his passionate, emotional side wanted. He wanted to sink into the sensations just like he had yesterday, just like the phallus had sunk into his body. That someone could know him so well, physically and mentally, it was beyond reassuring. He wanted to cede Vala all control and simply enjoy the rewards.

But his rational side wouldn't shut up.

 _You're weak and worthless!_ his brain all but gibbered. It was unacceptable that someone had that much control over him, that he had given someone that much control. _No real man would do that!_

Should he be reassured being known so well by someone? Or angry? Which was it? Which should it be?

"Daisy-upsie, Daniel."

Vala helped him to stand, adjusting the cord running through his crotch and causing a cascade of pleasure in his erogenous zones that only served to further confuse him. She gave the assemblage an extra wiggle. “Is locked and loaded the right phrase?” she asked innocently.

Daniel ground his teeth. “Yes,” he said, glowering through her laughter at his expense.

“Are we in a mood this morning, dear?”

"Yes. I mean, no! I mean, I don't..." He certainly was in a mood, but he didn’t want to admit it, but he didn’t want to lie, but--

Then he was yelping as Vala landed a hard and sudden swat to his butt.

“We'll sort this out in a minute. Go to the living room and kneel at attention by the couch.”

Face flaming, Daniel lurched into motion and shot past the grinning Domme. He rushed through the bedroom, hitting the living room at double time and kneeling down on the folded blanket he had placed at his spot earlier at Vala's direction, his knees grateful. It has only been a few days of training, but he slipped fairly smoothly into one of the positions in which Vala had trained him. 'At rest' was the most relaxed, the one she usually let him use, sitting back on his heels with his hands resting on his thighs. 'At ease,' like the standing pose he had just used, would require his hands crossed at the small of his back.

'At attention,' however, was the hard one. Crap, she must be mad at him. He laced his fingers behind his head, straining to hold his elbows back as flat as possible. He knelt upright, his body straight from the crown of his head down to his knees, spread wide as possible of course, dutifully keeping the balls of his feet in contact with the floor, able to rise instantly if ordered.

He really couldn't blame Vala if she was mad. He felt like he'd lost ground this morning, like he was back to the confusion and anger of the disastrous Wednesday, the day that had ended with a trip to the Pillory.

 _So stop trying,_ his brain demanded. _This isn't you, you don't have time for this nonsense._

 _But if it’s nonsense, why does feel so good?_ That was his cock talking, he thought with a roll of his eyes, the part of him that had been in league with Vala from the beginning.

Daniel waited at his post, his butt twitching from the cargo it carried as well as from the spank. He waited for some time, his arms beginning to ache. He could hear Vala puttering about, probably in the bedroom area though of course Daniel couldn’t tell for sure with his lowered eyes fixed on his own cock. He stared at the karada binding it, not sure if he should be enjoying it or despising it.

More time passed, his arms starting to tremble now.

One thing Daniel did know, he didn't like to be alone right now with this confusion. He was adrift. He didn’t know what to feel or think. If he shouldn't cooperate with Vala, what should he do? Still be boiling with anger? That was so exhausting to maintain. And what was the point if anger didn't help anything?

He heard the inner door leading to the garage open and Vala going down the steps.

She had gone into the garage.

His hands were free, his feet were free. He could jump up and slam the door and lock her out. He could get dressed and call the SGC and have Vala and her crazy ideas thrown off the planet...

 _Do it!_ his head screamed.

 _Don't!_ his cock screamed.

Oh god. He was losing it. He was completely losing it.

Frozen with indecision, he just knelt there, trembling with the strain of holding his arms up, despite the fact that he knew for certain that Vala couldn't see him right now and that he would hear her before she could see him.

She told him to stay in this position, so stay in it he did. And as his brain gnashed its virtual teeth in frustration, he heard her footsteps returning and the closing of the door behind her. Vala entered the room and Daniel fairly vibrated with relief.

Now he would get some direction. He would be told what was expected of him, what would happen. His independent self howled in outrage, but he didn't care. He didn't like her to leave him alone like this, open and waiting, not even for a minute, not even with the phallus and the karada in place.

Vala walked past him to the kitchen bar counter without a word and he could hear some clattery noises as she began to work on something. There came a chirp from her phone, some rustling, then, "Hello, Samantha! How was sunny California? Are you more blonde than ever now?" Vala paused to listen, then laughed. "Only you would go to an aircraft museum on the hottest day of the year. ... No, taking your niece and nephew doesn't make it better. It makes it worse. I'd wager they would've preferred the beach." There was more laughter, then she said, "Samantha, would you mind if I put you on speaker? I need my hands for a project I'm doing."

Sam must have said yes, because the next thing Daniel heard was the sound of Sam's tinny voice asking, "What's the project? Or do I want to know?"

The clattery noises recommenced, Vala saying, "Oh, just a craftsy-arty thing I'm working on. Maybe I'll show it to you someday if it turns out well."

Was that a reference to him, or whatever she was working on? He definitely didn't want to know.

The two women continued to talk, and Daniel realized he had been gagged the last time Vala had been on the phone, to keep him from calling out. She trusted him now, even as moody as he had been this morning...

 _Big deal,_ his brain scoffed. _You're grateful to not have a gag shoved down your throat in your own house? You're pathetic._

Daniel took a deep breath, stubbornly pulling his elbows back from where they had started to drift forward.

Sam spent some time describing the high points of her trip, Vala mostly asking questions. Then the clattery sound broke off and Vala came over to the couch, collapsing with a theatrical huff.

Cock twitching hopelessly in its captive cord as his Domme came into his presence, Daniel held as still as he could, his arms burning now, the stress-shakes traveling down his rigid body, eyes properly fixed now in the vicinity of Vala's ankles, unfortunately covered by her slacks and boots.

In his peripheral vision, he saw Vala place the phone on the coffee table along with an odd bundle of rope, the purpose of which he couldn't quite make out. It looked like a three or four two foot lengths of the thinnest cord. Were they freshly cut? Had she been using a knife at the kitchen counter?

"You'd think that after the whole Pete debacle, your brother would leave you be," Vala commented, beginning to gather up the cording, folding it in half.

"Ha!" came Sam's derisive reply. "Big brother knows all! He actually said that, like we were kids again!"

Daniel might have felt bad about secretly listening in on a conversation if he hadn't known that Sam wouldn't mind. Once upon a time he himself might have talked like this with his longtime friend. Back when he was talking to anyone.

It occurred to him that his teammates, his...friends still hadn't called him this week. Vala had been keeping his mobile phone on a high shelf in the kitchen on 'silent,' checking it every so often in case an important call came in. It hadn't. No calls had come at all. His Linguistics Department personnel had probably been forbidden to call him by General Landry, and his teammates probably thought he was at the SGC. Where in fact he would have been if it wasn't for Vala.

Vala and Sam's conversation went in one ear and out the other, however. He had more important things to occupy him right now.

Like how very much he didn't like being ignored by his Domme.

Daniel felt like an unused item of furniture as Vala chattered away, fiddling with her rope. He wanted her attention, he needed it. And paradoxically, total stillness and silence seemed to be the only way to attract it.

 _Stop playing her game!_ his brain screamed.

Enough.

Daniel mentally shoved his brain in a dark room and slammed the door.

 _About time,_ his cock observed smugly.

Her game was the only game in this particular town, and he would have to play it. And by her rules.

Besides...he wanted to play it. He did. He just...didn't know if he _should_ want to.

His patience was finally rewarded when Vala paused her conversation, putting a hand over the phone mic as Sam chattered on about the disastrous double date her brother had sprung on her.

“Daniel,” Vala called softly.

Daniel snapped to greater attention, his body poised, pulling his elbows back again and trying to still his trembling muscles, eyes rising to his keeper’s knee level to catch any visual cues or gestures.

“Prepare and serve me a cup of coffee, please. And one for yourself also.”

“Yes, Vala, thank you, Vala,” he whispered.

Daniel rocked back, rising as smoothly as he could to his feet, only dropping his arms with a relieved wince when he stood fully, and setting off quickly for the kitchen. He went to the coffee maker, set up two cups of coffee to brew and stood waiting. He stood at ease as a default position.

Somewhere in the back of his head, his banished brain shouted from its dark room, heaping ridicule on him. There he stood in his own kitchen, naked but for a rope-woven harness, his privates bundled up tight, a phallus in his rear, feet wide spaced, arms gripped across his lower back.

Yeah, so?

He could hear Vala in the living room still talking, he knew she couldn’t see him very well at the moment.

He stood properly anyhow, the growing smell of the coffee calming his frazzled nerves.

Out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of a pair of heavy duty garden clippers on the kitchen bar counter. That must be what Vala was using to cut up those pieces of cord. She must have left them there on purpose. As a test?

Daniel turned his head and stared resolutely at the coffee pot.

When it finished brewing, he prepared a cup of coffee for each of them: with cream and sugar for him, black for Vala. He put them on a tray and returned to the living room.

He wasn't really very good at the whole serving thing yet. Vala had only begun to introduce the idea. But he did the best he could, kneeling down to serve Vala first, putting her cup on the table in front of her, then standing, taking one step over to his spot, kneeling again and placing his cup at the end of the table closest to him. He left the tray on the table near his cup.

His two female teammates were laughing over some old chick-flick or other. A Pygmalion-style fairytale? Whatever.

Without permission, Daniel couldn’t drink and as his last instruction was to kneel at attention, he threw the coffee a last longing look and returned to that position, sore muscles protesting.

He'd gotten a closer look at the rope thing Vala was making, but he still wasn't quite sure what it was. She had gathered together the four lengths and folded them in half, occupied now with wrapping the folded ends together with some very thin cord he hadn't seen before, more thick thread than cord really.

Shoulders aching, he resigned himself to his stoical waiting game, hoping desperately for Vala’s notice. That's all he ultimately wanted, her attention.

"You sure you don't want to watch it tonight?" Sam was asking.

"No, Samantha, I'm roped up right now, but we'll have girls' night next weekend, I promise," Vala said.

Sam laughed. "'Tied up,' and that's fine, we'll get together then. Okay, I've got to go run some errands right now, but I'll see you Monday morning."

"See you then!"

They signed off and Vala ended the call. She picked up her cup and sipped with an appreciative murmur, then glanced casually at Daniel. “You may kneel at rest, darling, and drink your coffee. Then we’ll have a little chat.”

 

 

 

 

 


	28. Domme and sub Review the Rules

“Thank you, Vala.” Daniel lowered his arms gratefully, sinking back to rest on his heels, and picked up his coffee double handed. He took a swallow or two, then replaced it on the table and placed his hands on his thighs. Things seemed a lot more formal right now than they did at breakfast, so he didn't think simply sitting there clutching and sipping at the coffee cup was proper form.

"You may look at me, Daniel."

Daniel raised his eyes cautiously, looking his Domme full in the face, searching for a hint of her mood.

Vala didn't _look_ mad, but she wasn't smiling either. “I see how hard you're trying right now," she said after another sip from her own cup, "so there will be no punishment for your behavior in the bedroom just now, _depending_ on your future behavior.”

Daniel raised his brows in an innocent look that he hoped dripped with 'Bad behavior? Me?'

Despite what looked to be a badly smothered smile, she stated, “Not amused, Daniel. And neither will you be if I have to put you in the Pillory again."

That sobered him damn quick.

"I believe you would benefit from a refresher course in the do's and do not's of our relationship." Vala set down the cup and placed her hands in her lap, reciting, "In general, you are to engage in no rudeness, disrespect, coarse language, or disobedience. Specifically, no questions asked without permission. No physical resistance or opposition. No movement from the location or position in which I have placed you without explicit instructions. No deviation from the strict execution of a direct order."

Daniel sat motionlessly, memorizing as she went. This was actually very helpful. Some of these no-no’s she had spelled out before, but some were just implied and he appreciated having it all laid out for him.

"Again I want to stress, properly couched objections will be considered," Vala continued. "Also, honest mistakes will be dealt with mercifully. However, remember that I am the judge of what is an acceptable objection or an honest mistake. The only judge."

"Yes, Vala."

"Now, individual infractions will be dealt with immediately with a paddling. However..." Vala paused and lifted a finger, regarding her sub seriously, "an accumulation of transgressions will result in another session on the Pillory. A _longer_ session," she emphasized with dispassionate precision.

Daniel swallowed hard, his eyes almost watering at the memory.

“Followed immediately by the rest of the day in the Humbler,” Vala concluded.

Daniel gulped again, blinking as his eyes definitely watered now.

“I know. Ouch.” Vala looked down at Daniel encouragingly, the Domme's sternness giving way at last to a kind smile and a wince of sympathy. Daniel saw no falsehood in her grey eyes, no tricks, only the honest wish for a friend to do the right thing. It was a look that had irritated and enraged Daniel just three days ago, but now...now he drew strength from it. There was no need to take offense anymore, he needed all the friendship he could get.

“Do you want that punishment?" Vala asked, almost curiously.

“No, Vala," Daniel said quickly.

“Good. Now have a little more of your coffee while it's hot, then tell me then exactly what you _won’t_ be doing.”

Daniel did as she ordered, taking a few bracing gulps from his cup first then, sparing a passing thought of thanks for his eidetic memory, he repeated what he had privately begun to call 'Domme Vala's Code of Proper Behavior.'

“Clever boy," Vala said approvingly when he'd finished. "Now, tell me about the punishment you will suffer for transgressions.”

"Um... If I do one or two things wrong, I'll be--you'll paddle me, Vala," he said reddening a bit. “And if I screw up a lot, I--I'll be put in the Pillory.”

“And exactly what does being put in the Pillory entail, Daniel, in your own words?"

Daniel fumbled for a moment, lost for words, not sure why the Domme was harping on this. But Vala leaned forward with a gentle smile. “Daniel, I want there to be no doubt in your mind whatsoever of the consequences for disobedience or misbehavior. I want us to be clear, you and I both, on the outcome of misconduct on your part. Now, again, tell me about the Pillory.”

Daniel look a breath, his cheeks heating. "It's like the Humbler, but I'm standing up. You—my—you put my ba--my testicles in a vise, and then—” He took another fortifying breath. “Then you whip me with a crop,” he finished quickly, red face properly raised, but eyes squeezed shut.

“And does it hurt, Daniel?”

“Y-yes, Vala!” he blurted out, opening his eyes. “It hurts!”

“How much?”

“Very badly," he specified emphatically. "It hurts very badly.”

“And do you want to be placed on a Pillory and be punished as you’ve just described?”

“No! No, Vala, I don’t,” he said just as fervently.

“Good, Daniel. Because I don’t want to have to punish you,” she said just as fervently.

“Yes, Vala.” Daniel remembered how pale and shaky Vala had been after his punishment.

"Remember, I'm your Guide, your teacher. I'm here to help you, not trick you. I want you to succeed just as much as you do." Vala was all but begging and Daniel nodded wordlessly. “Now tell me the rules again. Tell me how you’re going to avoid punishment.”

He listed the Code again, much calmer this time. Vala was right. It was clearer in his mind now. All those half-formed plans of rebellion from the beginning of the week had evaporated in the harsh light of the scenario he’d just recited.

When he finished listing crimes and punishments, Vala added, “And don’t forget the rest of the day in the Humbler." She hid a smirk behind her mug. “The Humbler is nothing to sneeze at.”

“No, Vala," he said mournfully. "You don’t want to sneeze with that thing on."

She winked at Daniel and Daniel found himself returning her smile, feeling nothing but warmth at her playful concern and support.

"Finish your coffee, dear, then I have something that I think will help you."

He raised his brows in question as he picked up his cup, and Vala enlarged, "Something like the phallus."

Okay, he thought, draining his cup. It's true, he would never have voluntarily submitted to something like a phallus, but he'd ended up loving it. The calm it brought when he let it (to say nothing of the, _ahem,_ sexual charge).

"I believe you would benefit from some discipline." Vala lifted the rope assembly she'd been working on, and Daniel realized it was...some kind of homemade cat o'nine tails? The four folded lengths of cord produced eight 'tails' each about a foot long, the folded portion wrapped up to form a handle. She eyed it critically. "To be truly authentic, this really needs to be leather, but I believe it will more than suffice."

Daniel's mind blanked out with panic. "But--but I thought--! What did I--? I didn't mean to--!"

"Daniel. Breathe. Did I say punishment?"

"I-- No, I, I guess not..."

"What did I say?"

"Um...discipline? That's different?"

"Please define discipline for me, Dr. Jackson."

"Um..." Who knew an eidetic memory would be so useful to a sexual submissive? "It's basically training to act in accordance with rules, like, rote activities."

"Training, exactly. And what is punishment?"

Oh, okay, he understood now. "Vala," he began formally, "it's the process of subjecting someone to pain or some other sentence as a penalty for some offense."

"That's right, darling. I've already said I'm not going to punish you. This is a flogger, and while it may look scary, it's not anywhere near as stringent as the paddle or crop. Now come over and face the couch just like you do for a paddling."

Daniel obeyed, reassured, but still a bit wary.

"No need to count, Daniel," she said, giving his head a calming caress. "I'll be giving you twenty strokes."

Twenty? Oh god--! But when the first stroke landed on his butt, he jerked more in surprise than pain.

It stung, yes, but not overwhelmingly so. The crop whipping had been lightning-fast searing agony and the paddle a heavy explosive pain. This lashing was much lighter. Vala played the eight tails thoroughly over his rump, bringing blood to the surface and increasing sensitivity. The stinging cords landed around the stretched skin of his anus, tweaking the phallus as he clenched in response. It hurt but it felt good too.

Okay, it felt _more_ than good, it felt amazing and his cock hardened almost explosively, the little karada squeezing down like his Domme's experienced fingers. It made thinking so difficult that he gave up on trying, simply existing in the moment, letting the sensations roll over him. The last few strokes Vala passed lower, the cords wrapping lovingly around his thighs. Daniel groaned at the feeling, astonishing himself by widening his legs and thrusting backwards, begging for more with his body.

When the strokes stopped Daniel was left hanging, his butt pushed out, pulsing in the empty air, his cock and balls heavy between his legs.

"Do you want something, Daniel?" Vala asked softly.

"Yes! Yes, Vala, yes, please..." he whined breathlessly.

"Tell me what you want."

"Vala, please, I want, the flogger, I want, your hand..." He was babbling like an imbecile but it didn't matter. It didn't matter because Vala understood. She gave him three or four more firm strokes to the seat of his butt and his thighs, then, when he was all but rutting against the couch, she tossed the flogger aside and took his cock in both hands, one loosening the cord ring, the other squeezing and twisting and he was gone, like lightning running from his cock up to his head and back down again, he came calling her name and thrusting madly, unselfconsciously...

When he came back to his senses, he was still clutching the couch--holding on for dear life more like. Vala sat close by, wiping off his sweat and come with a dish towel from a pile she had quite wisely stacked on the coffee table yesterday.

"Shh," she soothed as his trembling slacked off. "You're doing so well, my brave boy. I'm quite proud of you." She finished by wiping his spend up off the floor, noting with a smirk, "I managed to save the upholstery."

He dredged up a shaky smile in return. Vala rose off the floor and sat on the couch again, pulling Daniel to kneel close, his body against the warmth of her legs, his face up-tilted at a touch of her fingers to his chin.

“Now, my darling, are you calm?”

“Yes, Vala," he admitted. "But...but that’s the problem.”

"Explain."

"I... I just asked to be flogged, I _begged_ for it. I--I just never imagined myself..." Daniel struggled for words, then finished lamely, "being like this."

"Can you tell me exactly what seems wrong, sweetheart?"

"I-- You're going to think it's stupid, Vala."

"Daniel..." she warned, beginning to frown.

"It makes me feel like less of man," he spit out in a rush.

Vala paused, considering, then said calmly, "You're right, I do think that's stupid."

Daniel rushed on, saying, "It's just-- I know you told me about Eser being a sub and he was a man, but everyone else--! The submissive who chose you, Athirat, was a _woman_. And you said Debir _wasn't_ a sub. He was a man and your fiancé and you respected him and he wasn't a sub. Can you ever take me seriously?" He tried to duck his head despite his Domme's firm grip. "God! I'm jealous of a dead man!"

Oh crap, had he really just said that? What was wrong with him? Was Vala jealous of Shau'ri?

"I'm sorry, Vala," he ended miserably. He peeked up cautiously, but Vala didn't look angry or hurt, but contemplative.

"Do you know who Debir was jealous of?" she finally asked.

"Um... No, Vala."

"Jabin, the sub I was training at that time," she said. "Whenever Debir and I were together, I would regale him with tales of Jabin's bravery and dedication. Debir was afraid he would never measure up in my eyes."

"Bravery?" Daniel asked. "You called me brave a minute ago, but...how is crawling around and begging to be whipped brave?"

"Jabin was an older man--" Vala began.

"Older than me?" Daniel couldn't help interrupting to ask.

Vala raised an unimpressed brow and said dryly, "Yes, darling, older even than you. Now sit up a moment."

Ashamed, Daniel rose his butt up off his heels and was rewarded with a sharp smack. "I'm sorry for interrupting, Vala," he said humbly as he sank down again, glad it was only one spank.

"Apology accepted. Now as I was saying, Jabin came to the Temple rather later in life than most. He had known for years that something important was missing, that something about him just didn't make sense. It seemed that his parents and later his wife all expected him to a Dom, just like most of the menfolk in his family had been. But under my Guidance he came to realize that he wasn't Dominant at all, he was submissive. And rather than deny his nature and shy away from it, he embraced it. He worked hard and did everything in his power to achieve complete submission."

Vala paused, then sighed at Daniel's confused frown, brushing his hair back from his forehead. "Sweetheart, it takes _bravery_ to make yourself vulnerable, to give so much of yourself and ask for nothing in return, to trust another, to _entrust_ another with your body, even your soul. Debir wished he could be submissive, but he said he wasn't brave enough." She sighed again. "Silly man. We are only what we are born to be."

Daniel began to nod, his brow clearing. It made a convoluted, backhanded kind of sense.

"Jabin was lucky, his family supported him, adjusting their expectations. His wife especially came to embrace the new him," she added with an exaggeratedly lascivious wink. Serious again, she continued, "Darling, the range of human experience is all but infinite." She tilted his head up, forcing eye contact. "In general, most subs tend to be retiring in all aspects of their life, but some have extremely dynamic public personalities, like Athirat and you. Likewise, most Doms tend towards aggression."

"Like you," Daniel murmured with a sidelong smile (and making sure not to interrupt).

Arching a brow, Vala admitted, "Yes, impertinent boy. However, some Doms who are lions in the bedroom are mild as springtime lambs in public. There is simply no _one_ way to be or act.

“Now, I admit I’m prejudiced," she continued, "but I tend to believe submission of a man to a woman is a true reflection of masculine integrity. Knowing that physical aggression is not the answer to every situation and taking direction from someone less physically strong than yourself is a sign of strength. In fact," she said, "I believe submission to some extent to the female essence is the truest possible expression of manhood. Though of course many male Dominants and female submissives will disagree. Still, I think it's proof of the highest bravery a man is capable of, to trust so much."

“Might doesn’t only make right?” Daniel asked.

“Yes, dear. I love your phrases. Being so confident and self-assured that you can submit to another person is very attractive. And being so at ease in your manhood that you can submit to a woman is very sexy indeed, darling.”

Daniel felt as if something unbearably tight loosened deep inside him, uncoiled, warmed, thawed. He looked at Vala's slate-grey eyes shyly. "Last night when you said Athirat made a Dom feel like the center of the universe, I...all I could think was that I want to make you feel that way when we're together, Vala."

"Thank you, sweetheart. Believe me, you are well along your path." She cupped his chin for a moment smiling. "And please also believe that you are quite manly indeed. Both in this handsome face..."

She firmed her grip on said face as it flamed with embarrassment. Daniel had never taken complements well, but he had to admit Vala was pretty convincing.

"This quite deliciously muscled body..."

Vala stroked her fingers down his shoulders and Daniel shivered. Hmm, that was convincing too.

"And in your nature," Vala continued. "A real man knows both when to use his fists and when to obey an order. I am quite definitely a Dominant, but when it came to decisions by the Quorum, I obeyed, just like every other qedesha, Dom and sub alike. Being a man doesn't mean running about beating people up and having sex with anything that'll hold still long enough for you to poke your penis into it."

Daniel eyes widened in disbelief, then he burst out in a chuckle at the mental image. He relaxed completely against her leg, feeling that--no, _positive_ that this was where he belonged, yes, _here_ , on the floor, at Vala's feet.

They were quiet for a few minutes, Vala seemingly content to simply pet her sub, Daniel soaking in his Domme's warmth, thinking things through.

And able to think clearly at last, thank god. His brain and his cock seemed to have patched up their differences and were working together again, their war ending after his brain had crawled out of its dank cell with its tail between its legs. Hmm, now _that_ mental image was just plain disturbing.

Regardless, Daniel couldn't see the downside of this Dom/sub thing, not anymore. Vala _liked_ him like this, even writhing around begging for something like the flogger. She appreciated him. And if it pleased her, then it pleased him too. That's all that mattered. Why should he care what anyone else _might_ think, or even what anyone else potentially _did_ think. It was no one's business but his and Vala's.

His professional life would always be his to direct, Vala said so. And his private life...that was his to direct, too. And if the direction he chose was to place it into Vala's strong and compassionate hands, well, it was his decision and his alone.


	29. Daniel Gets In Touch with His Playful Side

  
There was a knock at door. “That’ll be the grocery delivery," Vala said, rising. "Wait right there at rest, darling, quiet as a mouse. I’ll deal with them on the porch."

Vala walked to the door and opened it, and, as an icy gust of winter wind washed over him, the chance Daniel would’ve killed for on Monday came and went. And he couldn’t have cared less. There was no way anyone out of the bright porch could see him in the dim living room as Vala slipped out the half-opened door and he was not about to draw attention to himself. A minute passed, and he remained at his spot by the couch as he watched Vala lug in one large box, setting it down, then closing and locking the door behind her.

Come to think of it, though, he actually _did_ care. He cared how heavy that box looked. He wanted to offer to carry it, but she told him to be quiet. How could he offer to help if he wasn't allowed to speak?

Wait, should he even be watching? He decided to err on the side of caution and firmed his position, dropping his eyes enough to look obedient but still catch movement in his periphery. But that wasn’t good enough. She was starting to pick it up herself. How could be attract Vala’s attention and offer his help without speaking or being...impertinent?

He had no sooner couched the question to himself than he instinctively dropped forward onto his elbows, in a supplicant pose. He debated for a second or two how to place his head, then left his face tipped slightly up, eyes lowered.

There was a slight thump as Vala left the box behind and came to his side. She crouched to card one hand through his hair and stroked his cheek with other. She guided his face up and he met her eyes, bright with approval. “Very good, Daniel. Your instincts are always spot on when you let your submissiveness come to the fore.”

If he squirmed like a praised puppy, well, whose business was it other than Vala’s and his own?

"I’m guessing you have something to say?"

"Yes, please, Vala, I would like to help you with the groceries."

"Thank you, Daniel, that would be much appreciated."

Daniel promptly collected the box (it _was_ heavy) and carried it to the kitchen, where they began to unload and organize supplies together. As they worked, Vala continued to give him Guidance: "I love your initiative, darling, but I warn you to use such actions sparingly. I’m not fault finding in regards to this instance, but in general I don’t want a constant stream of requests or movement from you once I’ve left you in place."

"Yes, Vala," he said, putting a container of shaved Parmesan cheese in the fridge. "I mean, no, Vala."

"In the case of something as simple as a box of groceries, you are best off waiting to learn my wishes. That said, however, I probably _would_ have carried it in myself, and then I wouldn't have had the pleasure of watching the rippling muscles of your delightfully pert buttocks in action."

God, how could he still be blushing after everything that had happened this week?

"Especially with the pink welts from the flogger still showing."

Daniel froze as Vala drew an appreciative fingernail along one stripe. Great, he must be scarlet by now.

Vala grinned impishly as she broke off, handing him a bag of jasmine rice to place on a high shelf. "Depending on the circumstances and the importance of your request, you may wish to place your forehead to the floor."

"Yes, Vala," he said, filing this information away in his brain as if they were discussing nothing more outlandish than basic etiquette.

Lunch was a prepackaged Asian salad that Vala augmented with thin strips of beef and shredded cabbage. And joy of joys, Vala allowed Daniel a fork. He almost glowed with pride to win back an implement he had been using since the age of three or so. But that was okay, he decided. It was the level of trust it symbolized, not the thing itself.

The rest of the day went along so smoothly, so naturally, that Daniel couldn't believe it could all be so easy. All he had to do was obey. That's all. And the most wonderful things came as his reward. Bright grins from Vala, jokes and stories and gentle companionship with someone who knew him intimately, the kind of companionship he had almost forgotten. And touches, always touches, warm caresses to his face, light brushes to his cock, and too many soft strokes to the rest of body to count. He wasn't used to it. But he loved it.

When bath time came, Daniel was actually eager. But not for any pleasure for himself. When Vala finished washing him and took his cock in a tender but calculated embrace, it almost killed him (or his cock at least), but he said, "Please, Vala, I have a request."

"Do you, my Daniel?" Vala purred, snuggling up close to him in the foamy water. She was sleek as an otter in her charcoal grey swimsuit, and just as mischievous and playful. "Hm, your requests always do seem to herald good things for me. Very well, darling, ask me your boon."

Ridiculously shy as he always was when Vala trained her laser-like attention on him, Daniel sank his chin into the effervescent bubbles of the whirlpool jets. "I... I've already had my fun today, Vala, and, well..."

"Already had fun?" she asked.

"Um...." He trailed off for second, mesmerized as he watched the play of water ebb and flow over the Domme as she moved. 'Vala-plus-water' was damn distracting. The swimsuit clung to her in all sorts of interesting ways, dipping low over the rise of her pert breasts, highlighting the prominent nubs of her nipples. He shook himself and rallied. "Um, you know, after the flogger." Hopefully the heat of the water masked his seemingly ever-present blush.

"Ah, yes, the flogger aftermath. How could I forget?" She tilted her head in mock puzzlement, the slicked-back hair of her ponytail gleaming in the steamy light.

"So, um, Vala, I would like to pleasure you."

Her eyes widened in a show of innocence. "Now?"

"Yes, please."

"Right here in the tub?" she asked as if scandalized.

"Yes, Vala."

"Well, I think that sounds quite nice," she concluded with a firm nod of her head, ponytail splashing in the foam. "How will you proceed, darling?" she asked, curious and teasing, spreading her arms wide.

Attack plans running through his head, Daniel frowned at her swimsuit. As much as he was terrified of seeing her nude on Monday, he was eager today. So he was pretty disappointed when, after drawing the bath water earlier, she had stepped into the closet, half-closed the door with a wink, and put on the same one-piece swimsuit.

"Vala, your suit--"

"Stays on," she said firmly.

Okay, no room to argue there. When would she show herself to him? he wondered. _All_ of herself? When would she kiss him? Or would she? Maybe kissing was not allowed between qedesha and petitioners? He cleared his frown with a conscious effort. She would tell him anything she wanted him to know, when she wanted him to know it. And if she didn't, he could always ask. Later.

For now...

Daniel positioned himself across the tub from her, sitting on up on the built-in seat, stretching his legs out. "Please lay back, Vala," he requested, guiding her legs to wrap around his torso as she reclined against the opposite side of the tub, half lying on him.

As she watched him with a contented smile and half-lidded eyes, Daniel spent a leisurely time exploring the parts of her body within reach, his view distorted by the rippling flow from the water jets. He trailed his nails lightly over the silky alabaster flesh of her thighs, skimmed his hands along her generous hips, her flat belly, her slim waist. He flattened his palms over the plump rise of her mons veneris, feeling the spring of her pubic hair beneath the slick nylon suit.

Vala sighed and shifted, and he slipped his hands under the leg openings of the dark suit, combing his fingers gently through the wet furry curls, coming closer and closer to the precious slit they protected.

Hm, he was really better at this with his mouth. Maybe if he could pull the suit's crotch piece to one side and hold his breath for long enough? Well, Vala said to trust his instincts...

Daniel took a deep breath and curled up, ducking his head down under the water. He thought he heard Vala say something as he dove, but he was too intent on his objective. His eyes stung a bit from the residual soap in the water, but he blinked them open anyway, snuggling his face into the cleft of his Domme's legs. Nosing close, he tugged the suit's crotch aside, opened his mouth--

And immediately began to choke.

Daniel shot back up to the surface, coughing and sputtering, splashing and sloshing, only just registering an upwards tug of Vala's hand in his hair. The Domme's peals of laughter were muffled until he knocked a gallon or two of water out of his ears, shaking his head like a dog. Okay, laughter wasn't quite what he was going for, but Vala was always quite appreciative of humor. Soooo...not a total loss?

"I forbid you to drown, my Daniel!" she finally managed to gasp out. "I will punish you quite severely if you do!"

Daniel spit a last mouthful of soapy water out, blinking hard to clear his vision. "Sorry, Vala! I really thought I could do it."

"You thought you could breathe under water?"

"...something like that," he sulked, but a rueful smile tugged at his lips.

She laughed again, then patted his dripping hair and settled back down, eyeing him expectantly. "Please continue. It was just getting interesting."

He found that drinking in the sight of her sparkling grey eyes to be much more productive than drinking in the bath water... But down to business. Daniel slipped his fingers back under the suit's thin crotch-piece, combing with his fingers again, working his thumbs from either side along her nether lips.

"Ah, yes, let me feel what those strong elegant fingers can do." Vala's head lolled back against the rim of the tub, her eyes mere slits of slate-grey pleasure.

This was harder and more awkward than indulging with his mouth but he was patient. More importantly, _Vala_ was patient. And it was hardly a hardship, feeling all that wonderful flesh he had gotten such a close look at yesterday. Between the bubbles and the suit, he moved by touch alone, probing, tweaking, teasing...

And before too long he had his reward: Vala's grip with her legs began to stutter, her head rolled against the tub as she jerked up, arching, gasping, floating on the water as she groaned out her bliss.

As Daniel soothed her gently, guiding her down to rest on his legs again, he realized he hadn't had this much fun in lovemaking since...never. He'd _never_ been this carefree. Certainly not with Sarah, she was much too judgmental and prickly, but not with Shau'ri either. Their lovemaking had been innocent and joyful, but there had been something missing and now he knew what.

"Oh, that was lovely, my Daniel. Thank you."


	30. Daniel Dishes on SG-1

 

  
For dinner that night, Vala managed to produce what Daniel decreed to be 'some fairly convincing fajitas.' She loved the spicy burst of chicken and peppers, and as they didn't need utensils, she was pleased to see Daniel dig in enthusiastically with his hands.

Afterward, for Daniel had begun to label their Evening Quiet Time, Vala asked Daniel to put some Bach on the stereo. She enjoyed quite a bit of Tau'ri classical music, but tonight she felt the dispassionate and mathematically precise Baroque fugues would be a welcome calming force. She planned on discussing some difficult things with Daniel.

When the first Brandenburg Concerto sounded from the speakers, Vala had Daniel kneel beside her at ease and snuggle close to her legs, an order he obeyed enthusiastically. She spared a wish that it could be her own bare skin he pressed against, but ignored the thought, drawing a hand through the sub's hair and saying, "Let's have a conversation, sweetheart."

"About what?" he asked without thinking, then stiffened. "I'm sorry, Vala! I didn't mean to--!"

"Daniel, hush. That's what I meant by 'conversation.'"

"Oh. Okay, Vala, thank you."

"I'd like to talk to you about your relationships with your friends."

"Friends?" he asked with dismay.

"Well, teammates. Which in your case seems to be the same thing." Goodness knew Vala had found no evidence that Daniel had anything other than superficial relationships with anyone else.

Daniel squirmed against her leg, biting his lip, obviously not wanting to talk about them but not wanting to disobey.

"Sweetheart, this is a safe place," she said, combing fingers through his hair again. "A qedesha doesn't only work with physical or sexual issues. I'm here to help _you_ , _all_ of you."

He finally gave a short nod. "Okay, Vala."

"Now, you've been very short with everyone lately. Please tell me what's been going through that genius brain of yours."

"Uncensored?" he asked bitterly.

"Yes, darling," she said gently. "I do ask that you watch your language, but I'd like you to speak frankly. After all," she admitted with a smirk, "I'm finding that uncensored Daniel Jackson is my favorite thing."

"Okay." He drew a fortifying breath. "They irritate the living heck out of me."

Vala failed to suppress a grin. "Yes, I _have_ noticed that you're impatient with Cameron, disappointed with Teal'c, testy with Samantha, and annoyed with the General."

He tried to glare at her recitation, but deflated as she arched an unimpressed brow.

"Let's start with Landry," she suggested.

Like a pressure-cooker kept too long under seal, Daniel fairly exploded. "God! I've proved myself again and again, a decade of proving myself! How much more do I need to do? I've been here since the beginning and he doubts me? _He_ doubts _me_? That Johnny-come-lately, how dare he--!"

Vala leaned over and gave Daniel a light swat to the butt, cutting off his screed with a gasp. "This is good, to vent," she assured him, cupping his sullen face. "But I want you to calm down a bit. Let me just say for now that no one else sees Landry's attitude toward you in that way. Once your Taming is complete and you achieve a balance, the anger will disappear and you'll see the world a little clearer, see the way we others do, not clouded with old suitcases."

He blinked in bewilderment, then hazarded, "Old...baggage?"

"Exactly." Distracting Daniel with a good mangled colloquialism always worked wonders. "And Landry does trust you, by the way. He trusted you about me."

"And look where that got me," Daniel said, peering up at her face with that sweet smile that always made Vala's heart skip a beat.

Once her heart had settled down, she continued bluntly, "Daniel, Landry is simply an obnoxious person. Why do you think he's divorced with an estranged daughter? His attitude isn't aimed just at you, but everyone. And no matter how many sarcastic things he spouts, he would be as lost without you as anyone else in the SGC."

Daniel sighed. "I...I guess..."

"Now about our dear leader Cameron..."

Daniel sagged against her with a louder sigh. "He's got this whole hero-worship-thing going that's very annoying," he stated.

"He admires you greatly, darling."

Daniel gave an ungracious shrug.

"He feels your impatience and works all the harder to win your approval, making more mistakes in the process."

"So tie him up and spank him. How is this my problem?"

Vala smiled. "I'm already helping the one I want to help," she said. "Nor do I think that would work on him. Regardless, Cameron wants _you_ as a mentor, not me or anybody else."

"There's no time for that. He needs to learn the hard way."

"Like you did?"

"Yes," he stated stoutly.

"You had no mentor?"

After an internal struggle, Daniel admitted slowly, "There was Jack... But I was a civilian. Mitchell's a soldier."

"Even soldiers are young and inexperienced at first."

"I didn't ask to be his hero!" Daniel flared.

"I'm sure your Jack didn't ask to be your hero either."

Daniel ducked his head, ashamed, resting his heated cheek against her knee. There was a long silence as Vala stroked his head, then she continued, "And where is your disappointment at Muscles coming from?"

His voice much more subdued, Daniel said, "Teal'c... God, it's so selfish, I know his first loyalty is to the Jaffa, but the way he drops us whenever they call..." He raised his head but avoided her eyes, wincing. "I know, that's stupid and unfair of me. He fought all those years for his people, decades..."

"Do you think you're jealous?"

"Jealous? How do you mean?" he asked cautiously.

"Not in that way, darling,” she assured him with a smirk, “although I suppose you could do worse. Jealous of the time and attention the Free Jaffa steal from him."

Daniel nodded miserably. "I'm pathetic, aren't I? People move on, I know that. And I know it can't be easy for Teal'c, being pulled in two directions."

"Knowing a thing doesn't always change your feelings."

Vala let these thoughts sink in for a time, then broached their final teammate. "And then there's our dear Samantha."

The anger had drained out of Daniel by now and he said evenly, "Sam treats me like a little brother, and that's okay. I've always kind of liked it, but she put me in a slot eight years ago and never really looked at me since. I'm not the same person I was. I know she cares for me, like I care for her--"

"Darling, it's all right to use the word 'love.'" In a familial way, she amended silently.

"Okay, yes, we love each other like siblings, but she doesn't give me credit to know my own mind."

"No matter how old you two are, she'll always be the big sister."

"I guess." His lips twitched in a small smile. "Plus she used to tease me that I'm even younger now because I lost a year when I was dead."

Vala suppressed a shudder.

Daniel shrugged. "My friends just don't seem to have time for me."

"Do you have time for them?"

His lowered head and miserable expression were answer enough.

"Do you _make_ time for them?"

"...No..." he whispered.

"Do you even make time for yourself?"

"I--I never thought I needed to."

"Darling, before you can think of helping others, you need to help yourself. You need to take time to take care of yourself."

Daniel flared up again. "I don't _have_ time for myself! I need to work, that's what I do! Lives depend on me! People are counting on me to--to..." He flailed speechlessly.

"To do what, Daniel?"

"To--to translate _this_ tablet or negotiate with _those_ people or write _that_ treaty!" He took a breath. "To _work_. I need to work."

"Has it always been this way?"

"Yes. Well, I guess there used to be time to relax."

"What changed?"

"Jack. Jack changed," he stated flatly. "Or maybe it was me. In the first few years there was a lot of downtime, time spent as a team or just relaxing at Jack's place. Then Shau'ri died and Jack went on that idiotic NID sting operation."

"Tell me."

Sitting up straight with a cold look in his eyes, Daniel said, "He lied to me. Jack looked me in the eye and lied. Didn't just withhold information that I wasn't cleared for, didn't tell me it was classified, need-to-know only. _He lied_. About personal things, things that had no bearing on the job, things he didn't need to lie about. He said he was sorry later, but I knew he wasn't. He was ordered to do it and he did it. For him, that was it, his conscience was clear. It was in the past, end of story." Daniel all but spat the bitter words out. "But I never forgot, I couldn't. He broke my trust and never even bothered to try and get it back. I'm not sure he ever even noticed."

Note to self, Vala thought to herself soberly, never lie to Daniel Jackson. She knew full well every word she said this week was memorized by that genius brain and brought out at a later time for perusal. She was damn glad she had been scrupulously honest, because there would be no second chances. Out loud she said, "Your General Jack fell off his pillar."

Daniel cocked his head with a squint. "His...pedestal? Jack fell off his pedestal?"

"Yes. So he wasn't perfect, and this shocked you."

"Yeah, I guess so," Daniel admitted after a moment's thought. "Stupid. Of course he isn't perfect. He never was, god knows." He cocked his head after more thought. "You know, I've never spoken any of that out loud before. I was afraid once I started I wouldn't be able to stop the flood."

"I'm here to help bring you control," Vala assured him.

"It really does help," he said, hopeful at first, then shaking his head with a frown. "But what good does talking about it do? It doesn't change anything! Jack's still emotionally retarded, Sam'll still treat me like a bratty little brother, Teal'c still needs to think of his people first, only time will cure Mitchell's inexperience, and--and Landry's still an assho--uh, a jerk."

She smiled, never pausing in her calm carding of his hair. "Sometimes just talking will help."

"Maybe," he said grudgingly, but Vala thought she could see the beginnings of clarity in his eyes when he began to nod. "Okay," he murmured. "That _is_ a load off my mind. Silly I guess, because nothing's changed but...I do feel a little better."

"How about a less gloomy subject?" Vala suggested and, giving an exaggerated preening shimmy, asked with a leer, "What about me, hmm? The sexiest and most beautiful of your teammates?"

"You..." Daniel trailed off with a crooked smile and a sidelong glance. "You, I'm warming up to," he admitted. “Although you have faults too, Vala.”

“Yes, Daniel, of course I do," Vala admitted, serious again. "Faults I’m aware of and I’m sure just as many I’m not aware of. But if my friends pointed them out to me, people I trusted, and told me those faults were serious, I would give them a fair hearing.”

With a reluctant nod, Daniel said, “Okay. Yes, you’re right, Vala.”

They sat in silence listening to a convoluted harpsichord passage on the stereo, Vala giving Daniel time to process. Then he stirred, saying, "I think I'm coming to grips with the whole submissive thing, but you said something a minute ago about Mitchell not reacting the way I do. Do you think I'm the only one who's like this?"

"Cameron is very open-minded," Vala said after giving the question some thought, "and I can see him indulging in the occasional game or two with a willing partner, but he is neither Dom nor sub, and would not seek this lifestyle. And Samantha is more sheltered than she realizes, I cannot see her engaging in even the mildest of games." She paused to think some more. "Now, Muscles...I think he goes both ways, like Debir." She shrugged. "As I said, I'm helping the one I want."

Daniel's brow was still furrowed however. "But, can I continue going off-world, knowing I’m like this?"

"Daniel, you make it sound like you have a contagious disease! What if it was Samantha?"

"Sam? But you just said she wasn’t like me."

"She’s not, darling, but for the sake of argument, what if Samantha was a submissive? Would you no longer trust her to go off-world, to lead SG-1?"

"Well, no. She’s proved herself time and again. I know what she’s capable of."

"And have you not proved yourself time and again?"

"I... I don’t know."

"No lying, darling," Vala warned, her 'spanking' hand twitching.

"I--! Yes, Vala, yes, I have, I know I have."

"I recognized you as a submissive, but not many others would. They would judge you by your public actions over the last ten years. And what do those actions show?"

"That...I...well..." Her hand twitched again and Daniel burst out, “They show that I can be trusted in the field, Vala!”

"So why would knowing that you’re a sexual submissive change anything? Your teammates know and trust you just as you are. Being submissive in the bedroom with a trusted Domme has nothing to do with your performance in the field." He nodded, but Vala raised a stern brow. "Say it," she ordered.

Voice dripping with reluctance, he said, "Being submissive in the bedroom with a trusted Domme has nothing to do with my performance in the field."

"Or in any other area of life," she prompted.

"Or in any other area of life."

"In fact," she continued, "it will improve those other areas because now you're a well-balanced person."

Voice stronger now, and beginning to smile, Daniel dutifully repeated, "In fact, it will improve those other areas because now I'm a well-balanced person."

"That's my good boy." Vala grinned and pulled her sub even closer, Daniel resting his head on her lap, his face toward her, smile lingering, eyes half-closed.

Bach's complex weave of violins, clarinet and harpsichord ended in a crescendo and when the next concerto began, Vala asked, "Daniel, when was the last time you reached sexual satisfaction?" She knew the Tau'ri man thought she phrased things oddly sometimes, but she had been taught to always use precise language. The mere act of sexual activity with a partner didn't always mean _satisfaction_ for both partners. “Before this week I mean, of course.”

Daniel lifted his head uncertainly. "Um..."

"Daniel?"

He peered sidelong at her, biting his lip and batting his eyes in that way that made her want to first spank, then devour him.

"I know that you trust me," she said leadingly.

"Yes, Vala. It was probably over five years ago."

Ah, so some time before he Ascended. Well that wasn't too bad as such things go. Heavens only knew that monks and the like went for years without playing with a partner. "And how long since you self-satisfied?"

He blinked some more.

"You call it masturbation, I believe," she supplied, amused if slightly puzzled that the linguist couldn't figure out her meaning for himself. A healthy man Daniel's age with no partner should be masturbating several times a week, Vala imagined.

"Um, that's what I meant, Vala," he said with a wince. "That was the last time I masturbated. I haven't willingly had sex with a partner in...almost ten years. Since Shau'ri."

She blinked in blank incomprehension for a second, then a white hot outraged anger descended over her. "You foolish, _stupid_ man!" she shouted, pushing the shocked sub away. "How could you do such a thing to yourself? Why? I should whip you until your backside blisters! I should bring you to orgasm so many times it hurts! Until your penis is rubbed raw and bleeding, then make you climax again!"

Daniel had slipped down to the floor, pale face flat to the rug, prostrate and trembling.

He should tremble! The damage he had done to himself! Willfully! "Why?!" she demanded. "Explain yourself! Why would you act with such self-loathing? To deny yourself the basic pleasure that all humans are meant to experience, the birthright of us all?"

He answered immediately, his voice shaky and muffled against the floor, his words tumbling out so fast they ran together. "I missed Shau'ri so much, it felt like a betrayal to masturbate to memories of her when I was home and safe and she was out there somewhere in danger, and after Hathor I could barely stand to touch myself, then after Sarah was taken I was scared I was cursed, and I know that's stupid, but it's what I felt, I'm sorry, but it's what I felt..."

He trailed off, hoarse and panting, and Vala's haze of red fury lifted. Daniel was so sad and lost.

And afraid. Afraid of _her._

The Domme slid off the couch and crouched down by him, pulling him into her arms. He was rigid with fear for just a second, then melted into her embrace, tears flowing like they had on Wednesday night.

"Please don't be angry at me, Vala," he choked. "I'm sorry! I can't--I can't bear it if you're angry with me--!"

"Shh, darling, I overreacted, you know what a drama queen I am," Vala soothed, keeping her voice calm when all she wanted to do was join him in his tears, weep for the pain this kind, compassionate man had been put through all these long years, by others and himself. "You see? I admitted I wasn’t perfect and here we have proof." She voiced a weak and suspiciously wet sounding chuckle. "And here I thought my question was _so_ professional. Apparently my words were not nearly as precise as I thought they were."

Daniel burrowed his face further into her neck, drawing in a shuddering breath. "There's just so much _work_. There's _always_ so much work, it's never-ending. Jack and the others didn't have time for me, so I just worked harder, I didn't think I deserved pleasure--"

He broke off, pulling his head back, damp eyes blinking, surprised at his own words. Then he repeated slowly and wonderingly, "I didn't think I deserved pleasure."

"What do you think now, darling," Vala whispered, cupping the precious face in her hands.

He was quiet for a long time, then finally began to nod, his wet cheeks sliding against her palms. "I think... Yeah, I think that maybe I do deserve some pleasure in my life."

Vala smiled. "I agree," she stated solemnly. "In fact, I pledge myself to assist you. Although I _have_ found that attempting to give you pleasure is a horrendously complicated proposition."

Daniel had the grace to drop his eyes with a blush.

"So," Vala continued, "when I brought you to orgasm last Sunday, it was the first time since...?"

"Yes, Vala," he admitted with a guilty wince.

"Oh, Heavens..." She stroked his broad shoulders and he nestled instinctively closer. "Oh, my poor silly darling Daniel. What will I do with you?"

"Um, what you've been doing...?" Daniel suggested hopefully.

"Now, I wasn't your Domme at that time, so I won't punish you for things you've done in the past," she stated, Daniel peering up wide-eyed, swallowing with a gulp. "But from now on, Daniel, remember, you _will_ treat yourself with respect, the same respect you show others. It is _my_ decision whether or not you deserve pleasure. _Or pain_ ," she warned, then softened her sternness, amending, "You're not alone anymore. I'm here now."

One last tear escaped his reddened eyes and Vala wiped it away gently.

"I'm sorry," he said.

Vala knew he meant the tears. "Daring, you're releasing the pain of years, a decade. This is new. It will take time to adjust."

"Um, what if I get teary during a briefing?"

"I'll tell them I teased you so hard I made you cry," she answered airily.

He rolled his eyes. "Oh, that'll be so much better."

"So you hadn't climaxed since you Descended. Well, I'm glad we confirmed your body still works properly. How did you even know what your new body was capable of?"

"I never really thought of it as a new body," Daniel said with a shrug. "If the Stargate can reintegrate the exact same body with every trip through the wormhole, why can't the Ancients do that even a year later?"

The analytical observation seemed to ground him, and his composure returned.

"Daniel," Vala said tentatively, "I need to apologize to you."

He cocked his head, confused.

"I told you to think of this as a safe place, a place you could say anything without fear, then when you honestly answered a question, I jumped down your neck. I'm truly sorry, Daniel."

Daniel gave that sweet shy smile that melted her stern Domme's heart. "I forgive you, Vala."

"Thank you, Daniel. I know you don't need me to point this out, but I'm not perfect and I _will_ make mistakes. That's why I give you options to question me."

Giving the matter a moment's serious thought, Daniel asked, "You were so sure of my submissive nature, could you have been wrong?"

"Oh no, not about that," Vala assured him with a smile. "'Daniel-watching' has been my hobby for some time now."

They went to bed soon after, both wrung-out, laying in an embrace so tight it would be hard for an observer to tell where one ended and the other began.


	31. Daniel’s Second Epiphany

 

  
Sunday afternoon found Daniel kneeling at Vala's feet, the shaking of his arms beginning to spread, sweat tickling as it dripped down his body.

And he'd thought yesterday that merely holding his hands behind his head was difficult...

To Daniel's great misfortune, Vala had seen an article referencing the stereotype of the decadent Roman ruler reclining as his doting and scantily-clad slave offered him grapes. Well, she hadn't asked Daniel to peel or feed her the grapes, but she _was_ using him as a glorified bowl stand: as the Domme lounged on the couch, Daniel knelt at rest at her side holding a bowl of red grapes out for her to dip into at will.

The problem was Vala required him to hold the bowl out of his center of gravity, presenting it up and out just below his own face level. It didn't help that Vala had been lying there relaxing for some time, reading yet another magazine article to herself, the passionate strains of Stravinsky's 'Firebird' pulsing from the stereo.

With a rustle, Vala turned a page, folding the magazine open and propping it up on her breasts. Today she had on a bright blue tank top, the front covered in wide rows of ruffles, and matching sparkly barrettes in her hair. She wore her skintight black slacks once more, one leg bent, the other propped up on it, calf on knee.

It had been a day about as perfect as any could be that didn't involve saving the world; although maybe Daniel was saving himself, or at least allowing _Vala_ to save him. Aside from breakfast (omelets with lox), and later, lunch (chicken and rice soup), the day had been filled with alternating rounds of chores, exercise, and training.

As a drop of sweat wended its irritating way down Daniel's temple, he reflected that with the food she'd been feeding him this week, the exercise on the treadmill, and for once getting plenty of sleep, Daniel was probably healthier right now than at any time in his adult life.

All the sex probably didn't hurt either.

The bowl jostled as Vala retrieved another couple grapes. She ate one, then ordered, "Open wide, sweetheart."

Daniel dutifully popped his mouth open like a baby bird and Vala slowly and carefully placed a wet juicy grape directly on his tongue. God, Daniel wanted to close his lips and suck Vala's finger deep...

But that wasn't part of Vala's instructions, so after she removed her fingers, he contented himself with the crunch and burst of sweet juice filling his mouth. She'd ordered him to complete silence, so he didn't thank her, merely swallowed and resumed his very important bowl-holding duty.

"Time to rotate your clamps, darling."

With a groan he sincerely hoped was sub-vocal, Daniel's shaky arms lifted the bowl up even higher, giving Vala room to attend to the clothespins the Domme had clamped onto his nipples earlier. Like the makeshift paddle and phallus, Vala had found the pins in the kitchen that first evening, setting them aside for just the right occasion, which was apparently that afternoon. She had loosened the springs, but it still hurt like hell when she'd placed them and Daniel had had to grit his teeth and breathe deeply to get through the initial pinch. The sensation numbed eventually, but Vala had been rotating the clamps 90 degrees every fifteen minutes or so. And every time she removed and replaced them, the sharp throbbing pain flared again.

Daniel hissed and panted as quietly as he could, Vala giving him a sympathetic look as she firmed the clamp, then patting him on the head. "You're being a very good boy, Daniel," she observed. "I may decide to show you a little trick I know later. It involves a grape and a pair of super-sensitive nipples. What a happy coincidence we have those things on hand, hmm?"

That did sound...fairly intriguing. But he was still forbidden to speak, so he simply lowered the bowl again, Vala taking another grape for herself and returning to her reading.

The renewed throbbing of his nipples set his cock off, just like the clamps had been doing all afternoon. Vala had woven a wickedly tight karada this morning, and the pressure on his cock made him clench up, which in turn made him hyper-aware of the phallus in his rear...

As the Firebird's glissandos rose and fell in passionate counterpoint, Daniel took a steadying breath. The implements his Domme had placed on and in his body combined in an orchestra of sensation that Stravinsky could never have dream of.

Desperate for a distraction, Daniel cut his eyes over and, looking out the windows to the backyard, he realized it was late afternoon. Last Sunday, exactly one week ago, Vala had swept into his drab quiet house and snapped him into the Humbler. He remembered the rage that had consumed him then, but he also remembered what he'd felt before she showed up on his doorstep, what he'd been feeling for years but wouldn't admit. Lonely. Lost and alone.

Well, he wasn't lonely anymore. Here he was, kneeling on the floor with clothespins clamped to his nipples, his body and cock tied up with cord, a wooden phallus in his rump, serving his Domme, serving Vala. And he loved it. He let the physicality of his situation wash over him, the biting pain, the throbbing pleasure, and he loved it. He loved Vala.

Wait...what?

Did he? Love her?

Daniel should have been shocked, rocked down to his core. But surprisingly, this thought didn't jolt him out of his dreamy contentment. Would it be so bad? To trust Vala with his heart and soul as well as his body?

No, it wouldn't be. Not so bad at all.

He relaxed back into his strained pose, relaxed into the music, the bite and throb, the taste of ripe grapes on his tongue, the scent of Vala in his nostrils, the warmth of her body radiating beside his own...

Yeah, not so bad at all...

  



	32. Vala Presents Daniel with a Choice

This was their last evening together. In an hour Vala's job would be done, the task she had set for herself finished. And successfully, she reminded herself sternly. She'd had absolutely no self-serving or self-indulgent motives beyond this...like, say, spending time with the utterly unaware man who owned her heart.

As the two relaxed in the living room after dinner, Vala shared a Psychology Today article out loud, something interesting to Daniel about the benefits of stress. But she barely paid attention even as she read. In the back of her head, her thoughts raced along.

Ah, her boy had done so well today. All week, really. He had unfurled, like a flower brought out of a dark closet and set down in the sun at last. That moment earlier in the afternoon when Daniel's eyes had glazed over and softened. The Tau'ri called it subspace; _so_ pedestrian. The qedesha called it dream-floating: under the stress of pain or confinement, the increase in a submissive's hormones and body chemistry produced a trance-like, out-of-body state. A detachment from reality that the sub's Dominant had to monitor closely.

Vala suspected the extra pain from the homemade nipple clamps made the difference. She was sure, however, that Daniel judged the pain of the clamps to worth it in the end. If his ecstatic screams were anything to go by, that was, she thought smugly. And she was fairly sure he'd never look at grapes in quite the same way again.

For dinner, Daniel had begged to take a turn in the kitchen and proudly prepared something called Baked Ziti. It had been delicious, and now here they sat at the couch, Daniel winding down for the evening, kneeling loose and comfortable, sated and secure.

Vala, on the other hand, had begun to feel quite the opposite. A judgment needed to be passed soon. The Domme was positive about what she wanted and equally determined not to influence Daniel in any way. This had to be the sub's free decision, or it meant nothing at all.

Vala finished reading the article and set the magazine aside, half-listening to Daniel's probably brilliant insight. When he'd finished speaking, the Domme slid down off the couch, sitting cross-legged on the floor, facing Daniel at eye level. As the sub raised inquisitive brows, Vala, heart pounding, face carefully neutral, said, "Daniel, sweetheart, your training is done. I promised I would train you for a week and no more."

The sub tensed, bursting out, "But--but--!"

"Daniel."

"Yes, Vala," he said, subsiding immediately.

Vala forced a bright and easy smile onto her face by sheer force of will. "I've shown you the barest outline of what you can achieve as a submissive. Now you need to decide what you want to do with what you've learned about yourself so far."

"Okay..."

"So you have a choice. Do you take what you learned here and proceed with your life on your own?"

Daniel frowned, making to speak, but Vala raised a forestalling hand, proud to see it wasn't trembling. "It's a valid option," she said. "You've grown so much, darling. We would continue to be friends, nothing has to change in that respect. I would be so pleased to help you anyway I could, short of acting as your Domme."

Daniel studied her placid expression, but she allowed no hint of her emotions to show and he remained stubbornly silent.

"Or do we continue as we have?" she concluded.

"Yes!" Daniel burst out again. "Yes, Vala, that's what I want."

Relief surged through her, enough to make her lightheaded, but she clamped down hard, growing serious. "Let me once more remind you of the most important rule, then. You have recourse to question me when you think it's warranted, but you had better be damn sure your case is valid."

Daniel blinked at the swear word.

"If I suspect laziness or malingering, my punishment will be thorough and harsh."

Joy not diminished one jot, Daniel nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, Vala. This is what you want too, isn't?"

"Yes, it is." Vala allowed a smile through at last. "All right, then, I'm glad, my Daniel."

"You don't have to worry about me, Vala. After the week I just had, I know I can do this."

Vala raised a skeptical brow. "Remember, all things will be under my purview. I may consider your wishes at time, but not always follow them. Even if you present you case properly."

"Like what, Vala?"

"Hmm... For example, knife play."

Daniel flinched. "What? _Knife_...? No! I don't want that--!"

"Daniel."

"I..." He took a fortifying breath. "Please, Vala, I--I really don't think I'd like that."

"Did you _like_ receiving fifty crop strokes to your buttocks and testicles?"

He shrunk down into himself. "...No..."

"But that was exactly what you needed. Likewise, I may take another action you don't understand at first that you need." She laid a comforting hand to his head. "I doubt very much it will be knife play, but it may be something similar. And whatever it is will be _my_ decision. Again, you can raise objections, but I warn you to think things through first and be quite sure of your reasoning. If you deny my authority too many times, this relationship will end."

"No! I--I understand, Vala. I will only raise objections after thinking things through."

"Additionally, at all times when we're alone and not in danger of any kind, we will still interact as Domme/sub."

"But, not when we're on duty, Vala!"

"Yes, even when we're on duty, even off-world. _Always_."

"But--!"

"I know best, my headstrong boy."

He actually blushed and Vala grinned at the charming sight.

"I am the boss of this relationship, darling, now and always. Don't forget it."

"Yes, Vala," came the subdued answer.

"All right then. Get up now, I have something for you that you'll want to see in the mirror."

In the master bath, Vala stood her boy in front of the large vanity mirror. She first, very regretfully, removed his karada. Off came the bindings, body and penis, out came the phallus. When she ultimately removed the dog collar, Daniel looked bereft.

"I feel really naked, Vala."

"You are naked, dear."

"Um..." He gave a rueful grin. "You know what I mean."

She smiled. "Do you really miss that heavy jangly thing?" she asked, dumping the dog collar on the counter with a clatter.

"Well, it was kind of annoying, but it was symbolic, too, Vala."

"Exactly." Vala measured out some new cord from her bag, a small diameter natural fiber in a warm earth tone that she hadn't used before. Something she had kept at the bottom of the bag, scarcely daring to hope that she would be _allowed_ to use. "This will be just as symbolic and quite a bit nicer to wear and look at."

As Daniel watched in the mirror, the Domme began work on a new collar, measuring out a length and comparing it to Daniel's neck. "This is called a Turk's Head Weave here on Earth," she said. "It's designed to be a solid loop, but I've modified it so I can take it on and off as necessary." She showed him the sturdy fastener she'd selected weeks earlier. "Plastic," she explained, "so as not to trip those tiresome metal detectors."

"You've thought of everything, Vala," Daniel said, meeting her eyes momentarily with an admiring smile.

"When it comes to you, my Daniel, I try." Satisfied with the length of the cord, she went to work and the pattern of the weave soon surfaced: repeated rows of three cords in tandem looping in and out in a continuous braid. That this was not the last time she would press so close against her pliant sub and weave her bindings was a gift beyond compare, a gift freely given by this trusting man, this gentle-hearted man with a spine of steel. This collar made him more fully _hers_ than even the karada, for this was voluntary, according to Daniel's own desires.

She worked steadily, circling him like a predator, fingertips pressing occasionally against his pulse points, knuckles brushing his Adam's apple as he swallowed, hair rustling as his breath puffed across her.

She'd hidden the fastener at the back and when finished, she stood aside with a satisfied nod, the darker tone of the cord contrasting nicely with the healthy tan of Daniel's skin.

"It--it looks like something I might wear," Daniel remarked cautiously. "Some kind of ethnic choker." He touched it tentatively. "I kind of wish it could be permanent."

"On longer breaks I can weave it solid," Vala assured him. "Not for missions, but during downtime."

"Just when we’re here at home, Vala?" Daniel asked, looking at himself in the mirror, turning this way and that. "Or at the SGC, too? I don’t think it’ll be too noticeable or unusual."

But Vala had frozen at his words. Speaking slowly, she said, "I would like it very much if you wore it at the SGC, but... _home?_ What do you mean 'when we’re here at home’?"

Daniel turned to look at her in surprise. "Aren’t--aren’t you moving in, Vala?"

Still speaking carefully, Vala said, "It _is_ preferable for a Dominant/submissive pair to live together, but not necessary."

"Vala, do you not want to...?"

"More than anything," she confirmed, her voice probably not as neutral as it should have been.

"Good! It’s settled then."

"Daniel, just to be clear, if the time ever comes that you don’t want to continue this relationship, for any reason, I will of course move out. We go back to being teammates and friends."

Daniel’s face said 'Not gonna happen' plainer than any words, but out loud he only said, “I understand, Vala.”

"I'm going to give you a day or two to think it over and make your final decision," Vala continued, gathering up the leftover ropes and putting them away in her bag. "If you still want to go forward with this, I'll move some of my things here on Wednesday."

"Some?"

"Daniel. I will proceed with this relationship at a pace of my choosing and you will submit to that or not at all."

"Yes, Vala," came the quick reply.

Ah, that lovely pout. Would she ever get tired of it? "Now, sweetheart, you've been such a good boy, I want to reward you." The pout disappeared as Daniel perked up. "This is our last night. Tell me what you want to do. Anything you want, within reason of course."

Vala forced a bright smile though her exhaustion, regarding the sub expectantly. But instead of eagerly bursting out with a request for...well, she wasn't sure really-- a sexual favor probably, a long and slow fellatio? --she found him studying her closely, a concerned frown dawning on his face.

"You're really tired, aren't you, Vala?"

She blinked in surprise. "I...what?" she asked intelligently.

Daniel gave a rueful smile. "I'm just starting to realize how hard you've worked this past week," he said. "And how little sleep you got. I want to show you how much I appreciate it." There was the eagerness. "What I want right now, is whatever _you_ want, whatever you need."

"Nonsense, Daniel. I'm perfectly fine."

"Vala, look at the dark circles under your eyes," he insisted.

She glanced almost unwillingly at the mirror, but refused to acknowledge the truth she saw there. "This week was for _you_ , Daniel," she said firmly. "It wasn't meant to be a trip to the spa for _me_."

He gave one of those annoyingly deliberate nods of his, the ones where you knew he was digging his stubborn heels in. "And I thank you more than you can ever know, Vala. And the way I want to thank you is to give _back_ to you."

She took a calming breath, too tired to be angry. "How, darling?"

"I...I'd _like_ to make love to you, Vala," he admitted shyly. "To--to cherish you." Then, as if afraid he had overstepped himself, he continued, "But, it doesn't have to be sexual, just something you want. A massage, a trip to the mall, a movie." He shook his head, repeating, "It doesn't _have_ to be sexual."

"But you want it to be," she said. And may the Lady forgive her, so did Vala. Daniel wasn't just a worthy Petitioner in need, he wasn't just a submissive to Tame and Train, he wasn't even just a friend, even a close friend. Not to her. But she was Guide here, she was the Dominant and she couldn't indulge.

"Yes, Vala," he admitted slowly. "I do, but I want--I want more than just to trade blow jobs."

Daniel regarded her, eyes bright with an emotion that Vala, if she were very foolish indeed, might call love.

"I--I want to make love to you," he whispered, pressing his nude body close. "To make love _with_ you." His eyes fastened on her mouth and, as the tip of his tongue darted out to moisten his own lips, he leaned forward...

And Vala stopped him with a peremptory hand to his chest.

"Darling, there will be no kissing allowed between us," she said, taking a melancholy pride in the steadiness of her voice.

Daniel blinked, too startled yet for the hurt Vala knew would be coming. "Why not?" he asked blankly.

"I believe the Tau'ri call this ‘Transference,’" she stated.

"'Trans...'?"

"It's a risk common to many kinds of therapy, not only to qedesha."

A frown joining the blinking, Daniel recited from his encyclopedic memory, "In therapy, Transference is the redirection of the patient's feelings for a significant person from that person and onto the therapist." His frown deepened. "It usually manifests as an erotic attraction towards the therapist."

"A newly Tamed submissive's emotions are not to be trusted," Vala said, nodding at his definition. So clever, her boy. "I _will not_ take advantage of you, Daniel."

"But--but, what if I _want_ to be taken advantage of?" he demanded.

The ridiculousness of the question would have made her laugh another time. Now, straightening to her full height and fixing him with a stern eye, she remarked, "I'm sorry, darling, but that almost sounded like you were dictating the terms of our relationship."

Daniel took a guilty step back. "No! Please, I'm sorry, Vala, I just--I just--!"

"Daniel. Please trust me."

Face downcast, Daniel bit his lip, the hurt beginning to show in his sidelong gaze. "Kissing is for lovers," he stated quietly.

"Yes," she answered. She wouldn't insult him by trying to soften the blow.

"And...and we're not there yet."

She paused, then said carefully, "We're not there."

Her re-phrasing was not lost on him, but Daniel only nodded, eyes lowered as he thought things through, Vala waiting patiently. Then he took a cleansing breath and raised his face determinedly.

And Vala was so proud, her boy remained calm. He didn't lash out with his hallmark impatience, spewing his lethal snark at anyone who dared disagree with him, trying to hurt as he considered himself to be hurt.

"Okay, Transference," he began with a meditative tone. "I can see how that might be true, Vala. Yes, I wanted my thanks to you to be sexual and yes, I truly believe it's not Transference, _but_ \--" He raised a finger, his natural good humor beginning to return with a smile. "Even if it _is_ Transference, you still deserve thanks and I still would like to demonstrate my gratitude. Would you really deny me that, Vala?"

Oh those innocently batted blue eyes...

"You are a very naughty man, my Daniel," she observed without heat, enjoying the sight of his growing smile. She gave a mock-long suffering sigh. "I suppose a massage would feel quite nice..."

After getting ready for bed, and allowing Daniel to use the bathroom facilities himself for the first time in seven days, Vala changed into her nightgown and they adjourned to the bedroom, Vala sliding face down into the little bed with a weary sigh. Daniel sat on the edge beside her, placing a tentative hand to the small of her back.

"Vala, your nightgown--"

"Stays on," she finished for him, speaking sternly to the pillow. This was to be a massage, nothing more.

Daniel sighed in resignation, but she felt him shifting up to his knees, straddling her carefully and beginning a double-handed stroke up her back, fingers gliding over the silky gown.

"Hmm, that's nice, darling, go slow..."

With a murmured acknowledgment Daniel went to work, and Vala closed her eyes, sinking down into the soft bed, his hands, his strong, caring, gentle hands, caressing, molding, exploring... The last tension in her body seeped out and she lay boneless, purring with contentment, able to let go and relax for the first time this long, stressful, incredibly important week...

With a suspiciously snore-like sigh, Vala fell sound asleep.


	33. A Monday Morning Worth Waking Up For

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Purple Prose Alert!! Reader beware!!_

  


Vala surfaced from a deep pool of contented sleep to the tickle of hair on her forehead. Ugh. She was so warm and comfortable. She snuggled her head deeper into her pillow and scrunched her nose in irritation.

A chuckle of amusement sounded in her ear and Vala's eyes shot open. Bare inches from her nose was Daniel's smiling face, his blue eyes dazzling in the morning light streaming in from the window.

"Oh my goodness," she croaked, voice rough with disuse. "I fell asleep on you."

"Well, more like _under_ me, Vala," he said, smile turning shy, his amusement not dimming a jot.

She stroked his bristly cheek, smirking. "But not in a good way, hmm?"

"Any way that I'm near you is a good way," he vowed fervently, then frowned. "That was kind of corny."

"Not at all, my poetical boy."

"Um, I hate to say it, Vala, but that was even more cor--"

"Ah, ah! Then don't say it, darling. Or I shall have to punish you. _Not_ how I prefer to start the day."

"Me neither, Vala."

Vala stretched like a cat, rubbing against Daniel's nude body, the confines of the tiny bed forcing them close. "Darling, truly, I am sorry to have spoiled your evening. And after all the hard work you've done this week."

"No, Vala, please. I wanted what you wanted. But I think it's clear that what you _needed_ was a good night's sleep." His smile grew delightfully shyer and he said, "Besides...now I get to see you in the daylight."

Vala frowned at the brightness of the light. "What time is it?"

"After nine," Daniel said.

"What about work? Shouldn't we be at the SGC?"

"I called in for both of us."

"You did?"

"Yes, Vala. I talked to Landry, told him that we had some important business we needed to finish up and we'd be in around noon."

"Ah, our dear obnoxious General. And how did that interaction go?" Vala asked, curious if the Guidance Daniel had received thus far had helped him.

Looking vaguely surprised, Daniel reported, "He said, 'See you then.'"

"See? He may be obnoxious, but if you treat him matter-of-factly, you'll get the same treatment in response."

Daniel smiled, brushing Vala's tickly lock of hair off her forehead. "You've taught me a lot this week, Vala. Um, you got your reward massage last night. Is there, uh, is there anything else you can think of that we could do this morning?"

Vala grinned, brushing Daniel's head-bed hair in turn. The sub's idea of what to do was abundantly clear, if the hard length digging into her thigh was anything to go by. "I seem to remember hearing something about love-making that sounded vaguely intriguing." Daniel grinned in return, but Vala held up a cautionary finger, growing serious. "As long as we are clear, my sweet darling. Whatever form our sexual play may take, we proceed as Guide and Petitioner, nothing more."

His grin softened to a smile, but Daniel didn't falter. "I understand." He trailed gentle fingers down her cheek. "Please lay back now, Domme Vala, and let me worship you."

Vala's brows rose in surprise, but she lay back as suggested. She decided to let Daniel lead this morning. While she loved that he wanted to please her, his needs were still primary at this stage and the best way to gauge his needs was by his actions.

Besides, as she discovered on the couch on Thursday, it wasn't exactly a hardship to let him take the lead.

"I think it's time for this frumpy old nightgown to go, don't you agree, darling?"

o-0-o

  
When Daniel gently, reverently slid off and discarded Vala's gown, he felt as if every wish he'd ever made had been granted, every prayer answered in one fell swoop. The silk of her nightgown was nothing compared to the silk of her skin and her perfect body lay spread before him, like a banquet, like a treasure. He stopped for a moment, crouching against her side on the narrow bed, just drinking his fill, Vala lifting her arms in invitation, crossing them luxuriously over her head.

He reveled in the sight of her sweet trim breasts, dusky nipples awake and erect, the sweep of her flat belly and slim waist flaring out to generous hips, her impossibly long athletic legs, and above it all, her beautiful face, wide lips curving in an languid smile, intelligent slate-grey eyes gone black with desire, her head crowned by a messy halo of glossy raven-black curls.

The same kind of raven-black curls that covered the plump mound of her womanhood.

Without a thought Daniel all but dived down, nosing and licking at the creases of her groin, still warm from sleep, the flesh velvet under his tongue, her thighs shifting and spreading around him as he moved between her legs.

He indulged for some time before lifting his head and, continuing to stroke her softly, he met Vala's eyes. "I understand why the Goa'uld took you," he said seriously. "You are the essence of womanhood. It saw everything it could never be and stole it from you."

From anyone else this would have broken the mood. But not from Daniel. Vala lay quietly, trusting him as she demanded he trust her, letting Daniel's passionate voice slice through years of pain, bringing her back to an innocent time, a time of new-found joy and playful sensuality.

Pressing his lips against her breasts, he murmured, "To me you are truly the Lady of the Stars of Heaven, the Mistress of Great Magic..."

The ancient Qetesh epithets should have been ridiculous, empty pandering, even ‘corny’ as he had said before, but...

Her eyes burned with unexpected tears.

Daniel meant it, every word was from his heart, overlaying and replacing years of sycophantic groveling by the Goa'uld's Jaffa, returning her to the pure roots of her faith. She could feel it. The joy of his translucent blue eyes as he peered up at her face, the rough tender rumble of his voice, the clean masculine scent of his heated skin, all conspired together, disarming her completely.

Vala had wanted to gauge Daniel's needs. Well, what he needed was to worship her, just as he had said, and Lady help her, what she needed was to be worshipped.

"You are a burning forest of sandalwood and a broad river of cooling waters," Daniel whispered, his skimming hands hot on her skin, mouth suckling at her breasts.

Vala shivered in response, head tipping back with a moan. So this was what being made love to by a linguist was like, as genius with his speaking tongue as the other.

"White beach-foam and phosphor, honey and cloves..."

She relaxed into his ministrations completely, trusting him completely. She sensed they had been moving toward this for the entire time they had known one another, for what seemed like their entire lives.

His tongue traced fire down between her breasts, down until his head nestled between her legs, his hands spreading her thighs, propping her legs up, mouth nuzzling her skin as he continued moving, making his leisurely teasing way up to each knee and back down again.

"You have heaped my hands with rubies and showered me with pearls..."

Vala sighed when Daniel dipped a finger into her wetness, sliding it up to her clit and circling gently. His tongue traced the same path seconds later and her hips rose to meet him, a purr of approval spurring him on. He moved over her relentlessly, one hand caressing her hip, the other slipping fingers deep into her body as his tongue slid over her rhythmically, back and forth over her clit, licking and tasting, circling it steady and slow.

Her pleasure built, but he knew her better now than before, and just as she teetered on the cusp of completion, he surprised her, moving up her body, kissing and sucking up her belly until he brought one hand up to her breast, fingers slick from her body, rubbing them across her nipples, smearing her skin with her own juices. Then he brought his mouth down, enveloping the sensitive nubs, licking her breasts clean with his hot tongue. At the same time he increased his rubbing at her clit, and Vala shuddered and arched with a cry, one hand fisted in his hair, rippling in pleasure.

Before she had settled, before the ragged echoes of her cry were gone from the room, he increased his attention to her breasts, devouring them like a starving man, methodically, devastatingly, his lips sucking, his face rubbing with almost-pain from his coarse morning bristles, his fingers squeezing and rolling. Panting, she muttered a paean of approval.

Then he paused, looking up at her, eyes dark and wild, his question needing no words. And her answer equally wordless.

This was the fullness Vala craved and she wrapped her legs around him, pulling him into herself greedily, holding him tight; this was where Daniel belonged, where he had always belonged. And this was where she intended to keep him, an irrational part of her insisted. She would never let him go, he was _hers_...

Daniel sank into Vala like he was coming home, home to a place he had been but always known, the Domme's heat entering him, spreading over him, through him, rising like a fever, saturating him.

He leaned back, pulling Vala up, nestling their groins together like puzzle pieces, both feeling the other was the piece missing their whole life and now found at last, fitting smooth and perfect. They sat exquisitely still for a long moment, face to face, eyes open and drinking the sight of one another in, then Daniel began to move. Slow and tentative at first, gaining confidence from Vala's half-lidded eyes and wanton smile, strengthening to a rhythmic pump as leisurely as if they had all the time in the world.

But Vala felt too good to him, the rush of that intimate flesh against his own, the ebb and flow as she countered and magnified his movements, and Daniel couldn't keep the calm pace for long. Vala could feel his harsh breath puffing against her neck as he began to lose himself in her warm depths, never stopping his grinding pace but intensifying it, his rhythm pushing deeper, stronger, faster with each snap of his hips.

Grunts and sighs filled the air, a hoarse call of Vala's name, a throaty purr of Daniel's, wet slaps and the thump of the bed frame against the floor.

Oh, how Vala wanted to place her mouth on his neck, to lick and suck, taste his salty skin, nip him with her teeth, work her way up to his lips...

But she flung her head back, out of temptation, and ground down desperately, twisting her hips, Daniel's hard and steady tempo becoming erratic, driving deep with one last fierce thrust so intense that Vala gasped, a crescendo building, inescapable, then crying out as a jolt of white-hot pleasure radiated through her, her channel rippling with shockwaves and Daniel, shuddering and gasping, sailing off the brink with her, both calling out to one another, clinging with punishing grasps, thrusting in a frenzy, all rhythm and control lost, free falling together for a time without measure...

...to land in one another's arms, panting, speechless, staring into one another's sated eyes, a tangle of limbs and slick flesh, holding on tight... _safe_.

They leaned their sweaty foreheads together, aftershocks still pulsing through their bodies. Vala held onto Daniel's shoulders as each pulse sent spasms of lingering pleasure through her, feeling the corresponding twitch of Daniel's manhood deep within her.

"I really want to kiss you right now," Daniel rumbled with a helpless longing.

His face so close Vala couldn't properly focus on it, she only smiled with bittersweet regret, cupping his sweat-slick jaw with a tender hand and drawing her thumb over his full lower lip.


	34. Leaving the Cocoon

"So, brunch in or out, Vala?" Daniel had asked after Vala had showered and dressed.

"In, please, darling."

Daniel was happy, Vala could read him like a book, happy for a last chance to kneel at his Domme's feet, to cook and serve her a meal, to feel her hands travel with causal ownership over his still nude body. To be fully and unashamedly submissive before he went back to the daily grind of his life.

"You may find your emotions nearer to the surface for the next week or so," Vala warned as they sat in the breakfast nook. She took a first piping-hot bite of the French toast Daniel had prepared. "I want you to seek me out immediately if you feel yourself losing control."

Daniel nodded from his place on the floor, spearing a strawberry and a piece of toast together on the tines of his fork. "Yes, Vala, I will," he said easily, secure in the protection of his Domme.

Vala observed his attitude with satisfaction. He was reaping the benefits of a well-adjusted submissive and she was so proud that she had had a hand in his healing. And he had certainly had a hand in her own healing, she reflected, swallowing a mouthful of her own powdered-sugar-covered strawberry, virtually boneless with the afterglow of one of the most wonderful sexual experiences of her life.

Vala hadn't even known she still _needed_ healing, but she had. Not just because of the Goa'uld Qetesh, but all the things she'd done since to survive, all the cons she'd run, all the men she'd had. Daniel's words, his rich voice, his gentle touch, his sweet compassion had filled her, soothed her.

"Vala, I want to thank you again for helping me this last week," Daniel said, looking up at her solemnly as he sopped up a truly revolting amount of sugar and syrup onto one morsel of toast.

She smiled but shook her head. "You're welcome, sweetheart, but you saved me too."

He frowned in confusion, a strawberry halfway to his mouth. "What? No, I didn't."

"Yes, you did," she said firmly. "When Athena wiped out my memory. If I had made it out that warehouse door, I would never have turned back."

"No, you would've remembered eventually, Vala."

"The memories scared me," she said. "I actively suppressed them. I would have run out that door and never stopped running. No identity, all alone...a dead end life. But you stepped in front of my gun." She put her fork down on the half-finished plate, no longer hungry.

"Vala, I would never have given up," Daniel insisted. "No matter how long, I would have found you."

"God, I was so close to shooting you--"

"You wouldn't have done that," he said firmly, not a shade of doubt in his voice. "I know it."

Vala didn't bother contradicting this, simply sitting quietly as Daniel finished his triple helping of French toast.

When he'd swallowed down the last sugar-laden bite, he met her eyes boldly. "Vala, please, I know what you said last night, but I do think I love you."

"Daniel, I will not take advantage of you," Vala insisted. Please don't make this harder than it needs to be, she begged inwardly.

"You still think it's Transference?"

I know it is, she thought, but said simply, "Yes."

"How long before you'll believe me, Vala?" Daniel asked calmly.

Oh, she wanted to believe him right now. "Two months, Daniel," she said briskly, picking a number out of midair. "After two months back at the SGC, interacting with others, experiencing your life from a new perspective, I will reopen this discussion and reconsider my decision if warranted."

She could feel the disappointment radiating off him, but he only nodded and said, "Okay, it's a deal, Vala."

An hour later they were ready to leave, the house tidied and restored to its pre-Training configuration, Daniel showered, shaved and tugging awkwardly at the neck of his t-shirt where it rubbed against his woven collar. "Feels weird to be wearing clothes again," he muttered in a faintly aggrieved tone.

Vala patted his denim-clad rump as the sub locked the inner garage door behind them. "On the bright side, you do indeed know how to fill out your jean-blues."

Daniel grinned, eyeing Vala appreciatively. "You too, Vala."

Ah, a sub's faith in his Domme. Really, she was in the same brown slacks and boots as earlier in the week, and a plain black t-shirt not much different from Daniel's. She voiced a loud mock-sigh. "So much impertinence. What's a Domme to do?"

Daniel raised his brows innocently. "But we're leaving, Vala. No time for anything else."

"Oh, I'll be keeping score, don't you worry," she warned as he helped her through the lumber-strewn garage and into the passenger side of his lurid orange vehicle, an old and ridiculously uncomfortable contraption he called a Jeep Wagoneer.

When he got in on the driver's side, the sub gave her a sidelong smile. "I'm counting on it, Vala."

Vala gave an answering smile, but it faded as Daniel looked away from her, opening the automatic garage door, backing them down the driveway, and maneuvering into the street.

They left the warm cocoon of Daniel's snug home and drove into the harsh sunlight and biting winter cold of the outside world, Vala gazing blankly at the snow piled high to either side of them as they passed down the street.

It was just Transference, she told herself, don't get your hopes up. He went from indifference to hate and now to love? In just seven days?

No, don't get your hopes up, girl. The crash down to Earth will kill you.

to be continued...  



	35. Back to Real Life

Daniel walked into his office, took a look around and sighed, combing a hand through his hair. The place was every bit as bad as he feared.

Stepping carefully around the many boxes and crates that littered his floor, presumably containing artifacts obtained off-world, he reached the mess that was his desk. It looked like a hurricane had struck. Well, a very _neat_ hurricane. There were at least ten reams worth of paperwork there, covering every inch of the desk, but it was all stacked up in discreet if precarious piles. There were too many work-request forms from his colleagues to count, his monitor was festooned with yellow sticky-paper notes asking for just a minute or two of his time as soon as he got in, and his interoffice answering machine blinked red with... _127 messages_?

Daniel sighed again, but instead of the panic the sight of this mess would have brought just a week ago, he found himself regarding it as a challenge. And instead of swallowing anger, playing the martyr, working until three a.m. for a week straight, letting the resentment fester and boil away in his gut until it erupted in a conversation with a totally separate and innocent person (like, say, the head of the IT department? Oy, he had some fences to mend there), he channeled the frustration into something productive. Namely, a meeting with General Landry. Because while Daniel had no intention of creating trouble just for the sake of it, he was equally through with being taken for granted.

Daniel could see now that Landry had fallen into the habit of letting him take on too much work. The General had inherited the SGC with Daniel already installed in his office, already far down that self-destructive road of working himself to the point of exhaustion. Daniel had felt he needed to prove himself to the new leader, but really, why? What was there to prove? It's not like anyone was going to fire him. Leftover angst from his foster-child years probably, totally inappropriate to a man of Daniel's accomplishments. He honestly doubted the General knew how much he did, but whose fault was that? Partially Landry's, yes, but if Daniel needed him to understand, it was ultimately Daniel's own responsibility to tell him.

So that's what Daniel did.

First he swung by a little office a few doors down and asked a young man named Nyan to join him. While Daniel was titled as the one and only Head of the Anthro-Archeo-Linguistics Department, the way things actually worked it was more of a partnership with Nyan. A refugee from a military planet SG-1 had visited years before, the alien man wasn't officially 'Assistant Head' but as Daniel's research assistant, he actually did more around the SGC than most people realized.

Then, Nyan in tow, Daniel marched down to the General's office and politely and calmly requested an immediate meeting. An hour later the air had been cleared. With Nyan's input a majority of the lesser work had been portioned out to the department staff, and as far as the top level work went, Daniel made it known that he would no longer be available for instant translations. If it was a matter life and death, of course he would make exceptions, but for anything else, he firmly told the General that people would have to get used to delayed gratification.

Landry seemed honestly surprised by the sheer volume of work Daniel had been taking on. Nyan was surprised too, but not by the workload. He had given up trying to convince Daniel to delegate. "What made you finally come to your senses, boss?" he asked.

Daniel ducked his head with a rueful smile. "Well, I've recently reviewed my priorities and come to some new decisions."

"About time." Nyan gave an approving nod.

Back in his office later, Daniel and Nyan tackled the mess, not only the piles left from the preceding week, but the detritus accumulated from several years of taking on more than he could really handle. The first thing Daniel did was scrape off and throw away the post-it notes and delete the phone messages. If anything was really important, people would call back. Then he and Nyan buckled down, working steadily for the next couple days.

These were the two days Vala insisted he and she wait until she would return to his house. He knew she was looking out for him, but really, he knew his own mind. He did now, at least. He wanted her back in what he'd begun to think of as 'their' house as soon as possible.

Vala checked up on him constantly and Daniel quickly grew to depend on her calming presence and intelligent counsel. He understood now that it wasn't a sign of weakness to depend on someone, to lean on someone. Vala wasn't making decisions for him, she wasn't taking anything _away_ from him, but _giving_ to him, she was freely giving him her support. He wasn't alone anymore.

And as much as he used to dread her arrival at his office door, he couldn't wait for it now. Things were so easy between them that he could kick himself for not letting her into his heart earlier. He'd never thought of himself as shy before, but when the two of them were alone and interacting as Dom and sub, shy was the only description, he found himself all but tongue-tied. And he loved it. He thought he would be scared of imminent discovery if anyone overheard them talking, but it only added to the thrill of submitting to Vala's dominance.

Sam, Teal'c and Mitchell dropped by his office a few times, but once burned, twice shy as they say. They seemed so used to his abrasiveness that they didn't know what to make of his peaceful overtures at first. It was several commissary meals before they began to relax around him, giving him sidelong glances and sharing significant looks of surprise amongst themselves that Daniel pretended not to see.

In addition to cleaning up his office, he used those two days to his advantage, cruising the Internet and making some phone calls, arranging a couple surprises for his Domme. He wanted things to be perfect when Vala moved into his house-- _Their home_.


	36. Surprising a Domme Can Be Dangerous

Vala observed her prospective sub very closely over her self-imposed two day waiting period. 

She looked for any signs that Daniel was having second thoughts or regrets, even subconsciously. If he ultimately turned her offer of a Dom/sub relationship down, if he withdrew his invitation for her to live at his house, Vala would respect that decision. Yes, it would take all her willpower, but she would respect it.

So in the late afternoon of the third day, when she strolled with her very best faux-casual smile into his office and Daniel looked up to greet her with an unrestrained grin of pleasure... Well, could you blame her for the relief that flooded in? Daniel's instinctive grin instantly transformed the brow-wrinkling frown he had been aiming at a wrinkled charcoal rubbing, and Vala's faux-smile grew of its own accord, becoming very real indeed, the sub's joy infectious and impossible not to respond to.

Nyan, off in a corner sorting wooden statuettes from a crate, was used to the new dynamics between the two team members, and only gave Vala a shy welcoming smile. But the woman who held up the charcoal rubbing, a junior officer of some SG team or other, stared back and forth between Daniel and Vala in speculative surprise.

"Hey, Vala," Daniel said in greeting, his eyes fastened on hers.

"Darling." Vala moved to stand near him, knowing the rest of the room ceased to exist for him. 

For a newly minted sub, his Dominant could eclipse the world; not a safe frame of mind for an off-world mission and Vala was thankful that it had been a quiet two days. There had been no great demands on Daniel's emotions, no dangerous situations that her presence could distract him from. He would find his equilibrium soon enough and she laid a hand on his shoulder, not only to ground him, but to stake her claim. She had no intention of hiding their new closeness, although she wasn't flaunting it either. The sub needed physical reassurance from his Domme and Vala intended to give it without restraint. 

After greeting Nyan, Vala looked expectantly at the young officer and the energetic looking woman gave her a firm handshake, introducing herself as a lieutenant on SG-14.

"Oh!" Daniel snapped out of his dreamy contemplation of Vala's face (oh, the hardships of being a Domme...). He turned to the lieutenant with a regretful smile, offering the rubbing parchment back to her. "Um, Louise, you did some really great work here, especially for a beginner, but it's a little smeared around the edges."

Louise gave an easy laugh as she rolled the paper up. "'A' for effort, 'F' for execution, huh, Doc?" 

"Um...maybe a 'D-plus'?" Daniel hazarded, smiling in response. He looked over at his assistant. "Nyan, if you have time, do you think you could give the lieutenant some basic rubbing instructions?"

"Hmm," Vala purred, moving closer to Daniel with an exaggerated shimmy. "A course in _rubbings_? Really, darling, how do I miss all the _good_ stuff?"

They all laughed at that, Vala reveling in the relaxed expression on Daniel's face: no glower at thinking that either he or his work was being made fun of, no panic at the suggestion of sexuality, no fear of revealing more than he intended to in front of an audience. Just enjoyment of a silly joke and pleasure in the company of friends.

Nyan, a little pink in the cheeks, agreed to teach the lieutenant and when the two left, Louise shot a last glance back at Vala, a knowing, and approving, smirk on her face. Well, if the base didn't know about the two SG-1 members before, it certainly would now...

When they were alone Daniel turned to Vala with a sigh, taking her hand with the same charming air of timidity and wonder that he had been exhibiting since his Taming was complete. "Vala," he breathed.

Vala stroked her knuckles softly up his cheek, watching as the sub's pupils widened and his breathing deepened in contentment. Like any good Dominant, she assessed him automatically: his health, his attitude, his disposition. 

"Are things going well, sweetheart?" she asked, knowing the answer already, but wanting to engage him.

Leaning unconsciously into her touch, Daniel nodded. "Yes, Vala. Nyan and I've made a lot of headway."

"Not too many bad rubbings?"

His smile turned sly. "Is any rubbing truly bad, Vala?"

Vala grinned as she gave a teasing sigh. "Oh dear, I've created a monster."

"Yes, but I'm _your_ monster."

"That you are, sweetheart."

Daniel shook himself, trying to regain his wits and his bearings. "That rubbing really was bad, though," he said, contradicting his earlier statement with a rueful smile. "And the thing is, two weeks ago I would have killed myself trying to translate it despite the poor quality."

"But now you have better things to do. Like taking me home." She all but held her breath. This would be the point for him to make excuses if he'd changed his mind.

Daniel checked the clock, looking gratifyingly eager. "Is it that time already?" He put his computer to sleep with a quick keystroke and slid off his stool, grabbing his jacket as he started for the door. 

Vala gave a mental sigh of relief. No second thoughts then. If he'd been the slightest bit unsure he would have fussed and fiddled for an hour before finally allowing himself to be chivvied out of the office. In fact Vala wasn't sure if she'd ever seen Daniel move so quickly.

They made short work of getting out of the Mountain, however the closer the Wagoneer brought them to Daniel’s house, the quieter the sub became. And after they parked in the garage, as he helped Vala carry her miscellaneous bags into the house, Daniel paused as he closed the door behind them. 

Vala held her breath. He had seemed so sure as they left the Mountain.

"Um, I kind of have a surprise in the living room," Daniel said, setting her stuff down near the washer and dryer, glancing at her sidelong as he chewed his lower lip.

Ah. Perhaps that explained the nervousness. "Show me, darling."

They rounded the corner to the living room, and the first thing Vala noticed was that the couch now sat facing the fireplace, a much cozier setup, she was sure.

The next thing she noticed was a large loom sitting near Daniel's baby-grand piano.

Before she could say anything, Daniel gushed forth with a stream of nervous patter: "So, um, I thought it would be nicer with the couch there and I wanted to use the fireplace tonight, but I'm afraid of setting the house on fire because the chimney hasn't been used in years and I tried to get a chimney inspector but no one can come out until this weekend. And the loom, it's--it's nice in here, but you can put it in one of the spare rooms if you need a private space or even the master bedroom if you want. If it's not the right kind we can exchange it. It's a mechanical version, um, apparently it's a 'mechanical dobby-head,' whatever that is, but if you want the electric kind we can add that on and get the software. It was a stroke of luck I got it here so quick, a place in Denver had it and was already making a delivery here in the Springs and--and--"

"Daniel," she called gently. "Sweetheart, slow down, this is a lovely surprise and quite kind of you."

The sub didn't look reassured, but even more nervous if possible. Well, there was one sure way to calm a sub down. "Please strip, darling, while I take a look at the loom."

Daniel blinked, frozen like a deer in the glare of a hunter's light. Then he obeyed, pulling his clothes off like he was peeling layers of tension from his body.

Vala kept a discreet eye on him as she moved to inspect the loom. Made of a blond wood, it was easily as big as the piano and looked very sturdy, with a generously wide shed and voluminous heddles. It could probably handle some of the complex weaves she'd always wanted to experiment with as a child but had never had the right equipment for. She sat down on the padded stool and tested the warp batten and treadles, finding them smooth and easy to use. 

Her mind already teaming with ideas of what she could create, Vala pictured Daniel kneeling at her side as she worked, reading from some journal or other, or bouncing ideas and theories off her, or perhaps playing his piano. A scene of domesticity and joy that she wouldn't have thought possible a month ago.

However even this couldn't distract her from her duty and she came back to Daniel, inspecting the nude sub approvingly, lingering with pleasure on the woven collar, her claim on him that he had not removed once since she had placed it around his neck, his every emotion plain to see to her experienced eyes. She was so proud of him, only a slight curl of his back showed he wanted to hide, but he had nevertheless chosen the most exposed position, kneeling at attention, his body arrow straight, his fingers laced behind his head, his manhood half-hard. Despite whatever worried him, his impulse was to surrender himself to her.

"I love the loom and I love it right where it is," Vala announced.

He bit his lip, nodding and said, "I'm glad, Vala."

Something still bothering him then. "What's wrong, darling?" she asked softly.

Daniel suddenly dropped forward, prostrating himself with hands and forehead flat on the parquet floor. "Mistress, I think I did something wrong," he said formally.

This was the first time Daniel had used the title 'Mistress' non-sarcastically and Vala froze for one heartbeat in surprise. She had been sure he would never use it, but she could see now that it would be for times of stress, when he most urgently felt the need for submission, for the reassurance that his Domme was there to care for him, to look after him. Right now he didn't need coddling, however, but decisive care, and Vala stepped close, her boots inches from the splayed fingers of the nude man. 

"Explain." 

A shiver wracked him, but he spoke immediately and clearly, admitting in a worried voice, "I bought a new bed, Mistress. I thought that would be a good idea, to get a bigger one, to surprise you, but--but now--now that I think about it--now I realize something like that should have been your decision. I--I'm sorry, Vala."

Thank the Lady, he wasn't having seconds thoughts after all then, she thought with relief. Simple impertinence was easily dealt with.

"Follow," she ordered, beginning to walk to the bedroom, glancing behind to see how the sub would obey, indulging a private grin of approval to see Daniel crawling in her wake on all fours, head lowered. 

The bed... It was lovely. Made from a rich reddish wood, it was what they called a 'four-poster' on Earth: four posts at the four corners rising up high, joining an upper rectangle of stabilizing slats, like a large box. The posts were quite sturdy...hmm, all the better to secure a sub spread-eagle. A headboard of interlocking slats formed geometric shapes, eminently useful for tying up pesky arms. There was no troublesome footboard, which was good, those simply got in the way. There was also no hanging canopy. Well, _that_ she would have liked, but a man like Daniel would probably cringe at the thought of such frilliness, so she was willing to forgo that luxury for now. Perhaps later she could weave something masculine enough for him, but lovely enough to please her.

The bed was the same size as her own on base, what she had been told was a queen size, not the biggest available, but not too small for two adults as tall as herself and Daniel. It was roomy yet cozy, and exactly what she would have chosen. The thought that her sub was so intimately in tune with her wishes was thrilling. 

But...no reason to let him know that right away. Besides, what better way to test out those lovely strong posts?

"Look at me, Daniel," she ordered.

Daniel's head rose from the prostrate position he had retaken, his eyes darkened with blown pupils. "Yes, Vala."

"When did the bed come?"

"Late yesterday afternoon, Vala."

"And did you sleep in it last night?"

"No, Vala. I--I didn't think I should somehow. I slept on the couch."

"Well, let's try it out now, darling. Get on to the foot of the bed and prostrate yourself."


	37. Two of the Many Uses of Ginger

The bedspread was a bold and colorful print of geometric shapes that echoed the headboard design, and Vala stripped it off, leaving soft sheets of a neutral creamy beige. At her signal, Daniel crawled over to the bed and climbed up, crouching doubled up with his rump all but hanging off the edge. When she was satisfied with his placement, Vala went to the kitchen. 

She had ordered something special in the last grocery delivery over the weekend and now she opened up the refrigerator, retrieving what she had left behind: one fat finger of ginger root sealed in a plastic bag. The rest of the cluster this had come from she'd left in Daniel's root vegetable storage bin, but this lobe she had set aside, thinking it would provide a little fun on her return. Hmm, even better now that it was for ‘punishment,’ she decided with a smirk. 

Putting on a pair of kitchen gloves and grabbing a paring knife, she peeled and trimmed the spicy root, keeping its basic shape: generously plump and curving like a crooked finger. As a finishing touch, she carved a narrow neck into it, then dunked it in a pot of cold water, activating its essential oils.

Returning to the bedroom with the pot, she was pleased to find her sub exactly as she had left him, not that she expected anything less. Vala ran her fingers down his tightly curved spine, ending with a possessive hand on his rump as Daniel shivered.

"No speaking unless you're asked a question, darling," she warned. "Understand?"

"Yes, Vala," came the prompt, if muffled, reply.

Vala then gently but inexorably inserted the ginger root into her sub as if it were a phallus, using only a little water from the pot as lube.

"As I'm sure you can feel, darling, this is no ordinary phallus. Well, not that we've ever really used _ordinary_ phalluses." She considered a moment, musing to herself in a mutter, "I do seem to be inspired by kitchen supplies..." 

When the ginger root was fully seated, the sub's ring of muscles clenching spastically at the neck indentation she had carved, she straightened up, stripping the gloves off and tossing them to the side.

"Over on your back, darling, stretch your arms and legs out to the four corners of the bed."

Daniel obeyed, a frown of concern beginning to show on his brow. 

"You are not to move without permission," she said, then observed, "The day will come when I expect you to lie still of your own accord, for now, however, I will help."

Vala's bag of supplies sat atop the dresser and by the time she had selected the appropriate lengths of rope and secured wrists and ankles to the bed's four posts, gloriously spread-eagle, Daniel was biting his lip in concern, his body tense.

"Yes, this feels a bit more intense than the bamboo wood juicer, I know, but I promise, it will do you no harm." Vala was sure of that, she'd watched Daniel bolt down a whole container of ginger chicken over the course of one team night several weeks ago, so he wasn't allergic.

The sub looked at her doubtfully, his butt clenching against its unusual intruder.

"It's not wood at all, it's ginger root, carved and shaped just for you." She reached between his wide stretched legs, giving the protruding handle of the phallus a wiggle. Daniel gasped, arching in involuntary reaction, Vala following his motion easily. Laid out as he was, he had no way to hide or deflect.

"When the root's nice and fresh, it produces the most amazing amount of heat on the tender flesh of a naughty submissive."

Vala's home planet of Qadesh had a very similar root and she knew well how intensely fiery it felt, even for a woman. For a man, however, the spicy root laying on the prostate gland, the effects could be spectacular.

Grinning widely, Vala gave the ginger another wiggle, and Daniel squirmed, his manhood taking notice in earnest, his eyes widening as comprehension dawned.

"On to Stage Two," Vala announced and, giving the alarmed man a wink, she left for the kitchen again. She had ordered a fresh jar of ginger powder in the same grocery delivery, and she took her time retrieving and measuring a couple heaping spoonfuls into a small mixing bowl. 

Returning to the bedroom she found Daniel had begun to sweat, his skin gleaming, his penis jutting up full and firm from his trembling and supine body. By the Lady, he was lovely, his tanned skin contrasting against the creamy sheets, everything stretched tight, forced open, all those muscles, that power, harnessed and contained just for her. He was positively edible.

"Now, now, dear," the Domme drawled, reaching out to draw one finger up along the veiny pole of his erection as she walked past, Daniel arching hopefully in reaction. She set the bowl on the bedside table and said, "No coming without permission. Again, the day will come when I expect you to control yourself, but for today, I will help." 

Choosing another binding from her bag, she wrapped a snug ring around the base of his penis and testicles, Daniel giving a despairing little huff. He was sweating in earnest now, beads gathering and rolling down his heated skin, panting and pulling at the bindings on his arms and legs, his eyes instinctively fixed on hers, awarding her all his attention, knowing that anything and everything in his world came from his Domme and his Domme alone.

Vala peeled her t-shirt off over her head, Daniel watching avidly. "I _could_ use a gag on you," she remarked conversationally, unfastening her jeans and letting them fall to the floor, kicking them to one side along with her boots and socks. "However I trust you to not speak without permission."

Daniel opened his mouth and drew in a breath, presumably to assure her he would stay silent, before catching himself at the last second. Yes, it was a dirty trick, but he passed the test. 

"Good boy," she said, grinning. 

A flicker of irritation flashed in his eyes, but Vala let that go. After all, she didn't want the blind obedience of a dull automaton, but the willing submission of a spirited man. She would see how he managed without a gag she decided, shimmying out of her panties. He was still so early in his training and non-speech vocalizations held considerable charm, especially those delightfully desperate groans and moans.

The last of her wardrobe to go was her black lace bra and, naked, Vala strolled casually around the perimeter of the bed, Daniel blinking the sweat from his eyes as he stared. She gave his bindings a last check, making sure the bowlines wouldn't tighten down dangerously during the sub's struggles. And he would indeed be struggling.

Vala climbed onto the bed, straddled her sub's stomach, and crawled slowly up his trembling body, rubbing her already damp womanhood along his muscled and sweaty torso as she went. Stepping her knees over his shoulders, she placed herself over his face and he lapped greedily at her without any prompting. 

"Just my clit, darling," she warned, backing off before he got too enthusiastic. He gave her a puzzled and disappointed look, but did as told. She purred with pleasure as he worked, but pulled off just before climax. 

"Don't want too much fun too early," she sighed.

Captive arms twitching in their bonds, Daniel looked mournfully at the prize Vala had lifted just out of his reach. She gave a mock put-upon sigh. "Very well, darling, one little taste."

She lowered herself down just far enough, smiling as the sub eagerly strained upwards, his tongue taking a quick swipe. Eyes rolling up in ecstasy and licking his slick lips, Daniel's head sank back to rest. 

"I know you'd like to taste a little more, but I need to save it for the ginger powder," Vala explained, Daniel opening his eyes again in confusion as the Domme grabbed the small bowl she had brought in.

Some of her sister qedesha, both Domme and sub, could ejaculate like a man, but Vala had never had this talent. Nor did she care to develop it, she thought with a mental sniff, such showiness was strictly for men as far as she was concerned. Instead she did it the old-fashioned way: still straddling Daniel, she pulsed one delicious dollop of her essence into a waiting hand and, making a great show of it, transferred it into the bowl.

Watching his prize disappear, a ghost of a resentful little frown broke through Daniel's uncomprehending daze, but Vala only laughed. 

"Don't worry, you'll be pleased. Eventually."

Rubbing her juices in with the ginger powder, Vala mixed a creamy little paste. It was a bit dry and, impatient, she added a little spit towards the end. She had no gloves now and her fingers were hot and tingling as she finished the preparation and shimmied her way back down Daniel's body, returning to his groin.  

As Daniel blinked in bewilderment, Vala scooped the paste out and rubbed it over his straining erection, spreading it as far as it would go over his testicles and perineum, rubbing the last of it on his nipples before setting the now-empty bowl aside.

She didn't have long to wait before the fiery cream went to work, and Vala watched appreciatively as the trembling sub moaned and writhed in the spicy heat, more sweat breaking out over him, his penis growing stiffer and thicker than ever, leaking with pre-come. He pulled and arched in his bonds, his manhood searching, his eyes wild on hers, the burning at his anus undoubtedly intense at this point.

She enjoyed the show for a time, but both taking pity on Daniel and eager for her own fun, Vala moved into position and lowered herself slowly down, mounting him an inch at a time, the sub panting as she went.

Helpless to climax because of the ring binding his genitals and constrained by the ropes laying him flat, Daniel could only moan despairingly as Vala took her time, pleasuring herself on his captive manhood. The heat from the ginger paste transferred to her own delicate flesh, not the harsh burn the sub felt at his rump, but a warm invigorating flush and she achieved several orgasms while the man shuddered hopelessly under her, Vala purring as she went, enjoying his forlorn groans.

Oh, the sensation of her sub gasping and thrashing under her was quite delicious indeed. She had seen images of the horsemen of this world riding unruly mounts, taming them, and Vala reached back to wiggle the embedded ginger root, flinging her head back as Daniel bucked under her, a needy whine hitching in his throat.

After a last long orgasm, Vala lifted herself off the sub entirely, hovering there tantalizingly. She looked Daniel in the eye and said, "Thank you, darling, that was quite nice. For me. _You_ , however..." She looked him over archly. "You have been a naughty boy. Do you think you deserve pleasure? You may speak." She was curious as to how far along he was in accepting his submission. There was actually no wrong answer, she wouldn't be cruel, but what he said next would be very instructive.

"I...I..." Daniel whimpered, huffing almost incoherently, taut muscles trembling with strain, sweat running off to soak the sheet under him, but his eyes he nevertheless kept strictly on hers and, voice hopeless and small, he whispered hoarsely, "Mistress, that's your decision." 

Vala's smile of approval and delight spread wide, Daniel drinking in the sight. She pulled the quick release on the binding ring, plunged herself back down, and ordered, "Come for me, darling." 

Daniel bucked high despite the confining ropes, lifting her up, spending himself hard, crying her name urgently in equal parts pain and pleasure. He arched and pumped, arched and pumped himself dry, and, the warmth of his seed joining the ginger spice deep inside her, the Domme shuddered with one last deep orgasmic thrill.

Later, when Vala's contented sighs had faded, when Daniel's gasping groans had quieted, the Domme slid off him, gently removing the ginger root plug and discarding it in the bowl. With Daniel still tied down and helpless, Vala propped her head up as she reclined at his side, regarding him seriously.

"Your instincts on the choice of bed were very good, Daniel," she said softly. "I do love it. It's just what I would have picked out. But," and her voice hardened, "your instincts on what is proper were also correct, if delayed. The loom, a personal gift for my use, is appropriate and very much appreciated. The bed however, as you eventually realized, is something under my purview as Dominant and you are never to make such a decision on your own again."

"Yes, Vala," he responded in a prompt and subdued whisper.

"I think we both know my punishment for you this time was symbolic, and ultimately enjoyable for you." She gave his spent penis a gentle pat, then regarded him sternly. "If you defy me again, however, it will not be symbolic, and it will certainly not be enjoyable in the slightest. Is that perfectly clear?"

"Yes, Vala." His answer was serious and heartfelt, and he melted just that little bit closer to her, secure in the thought that his Domme's rules were clear and fair and, most importantly, for his benefit. And that she would always follow through.

"Good boy," she said, rewarding him with a smile. Deciding that that settled the matter, Vala slid off the bed and, moving to untie him, gave rueful moue. "Looks like we soaked your nice new sheets."

"Don't worry, Vala. I put a waterproof pad on the mattress," Daniel said, rolling his head lazily to keep his eyes on her as she went.

Vala raised a brow with a grin. "Prescience. I like that in a sub."

Giving an exhausted smile, Daniel said, "At least we broke the bed in without actually _breaking_ it. That's always a good thing."


	38. One Last Use of Ginger

After a quick clean up in the shower together, Vala and Daniel adjourned to the kitchen for dinner, both of their stomachs growling in anticipation. 

Daniel had done the prep work for dinner the night before, and as he put the final touches on the meal in fairly short order, he made a humble request, begging, "Please don't laugh, Vala." 

He placed before her a plate of steaming tofu and vegetables with...minced ginger sauce.

"Um, this is very nice, darling, why would I laugh?" Vala managed to choke out.

Struggling with his own laughter, Daniel mock-complained, "I didn't know you bought that ginger root for sneaky qedesha reasons!"

They both let loose at that point and when Vala managed to try a bite she pronounced it delicious. After the meal they settled together at the couch, Daniel kneeling snug against Vala, his head resting on her lap, Vala carding his hair with gentle fingers.

Daniel looked wistfully at the cold hearth. "I can't wait until we get the fireplace working."

"That will be very nice indeed," Vala said, possibilities tumbling through her mind. "I believe a thicker rug here would be a good idea, too. I have a feeling a certain submissive will be spending quite a bit of time down here in the future."

Daniel turned so he faced her, smiling as his head still lay passively on her lap. "That _does_ sound nice," he agreed. "Vala? Can we go furniture shopping together this weekend? Make this place an actual home?"

"I'd love to, thank you." Vala stroked his hair in silence a time, then asked, "Darling, how were you these past two days? How are you feeling?"

"Well, I've been lonely here at the house..." His pointed look put all the blame for that onto Vala's insistence that they spend the time apart, but he lowered his eyes with a gulp at her stern look. "Um," he continued hastily, "but at the SGC things have been great, knowing that you're there for me, Vala, really _there._ " He gave a little embarrassed shrug. "Suddenly everything seems so easy. Stuff that used to tear me up just rolls off now. All because of you, Vala."

He gave her the look of devotion every Dominant longs to see in her submissive and a protective warmth suffused Vala. "I'm so happy for you, sweetheart." They sat gazing into one another's eyes for a long moment until Vala shook herself. "Really, darling, we're becoming quite sap-full."

"Sappy," Daniel corrected with a smile.

"Exactly," Vala confirmed, trailing off as she once again lost herself in his blue eyes. "But, uh, regardless--" She sat up a bit, trying to gather her wits. "I wanted to ask your thoughts on making our relationship public."

Daniel looked alarmed. "Our _relationship_?"

"No details, darling," she assured him. "And no professions of 'love,' either," she added firmly. 

She raised a warning finger at the sub's resultant stubborn pout. He still imagined himself in love with her; well, only time would cure him of that. And she steadfastly ignored the pang of betrayal in her own heart. She'd like nothing more than to profess her love for Daniel from the Mountain-top, but she was qedesha and above such selfish motivations.

With a grudging, "Yes, Vala," Daniel relented. "Although I haven't exactly been trying to hide anything these last two days," he continued. "Nyan definitely knows. And anyone else with eyes or a brain who's seen us together this week."

"It's possible our teammates are the only ones who don't know by now, none of them being the gossiping type. With the exception of dear Cameron, of course." 

"Yeah, they're used to keeping a cautious distance from the danger zone of my office," Daniel conceded with a wince.

"Not anymore, darling, it's quite pleasant in there now," she assured him gently. "So, there is the question before us. Since this impacts your professional life, I'd like us to come to a decision together, but I believe we should tell the rest of the team about us being together sexually."

Daniel nodded immediately, seeming to breathe in relief. "Yes, Vala, I agree, I don't want to lie or keep secrets from them."

Vala frowned. "When did you realize that?"

"Um, earlier today?"

"And did you plan to tell me?"

"I... Yes, Vala, eventually... Probably..."

The sub lowered his eyes as Vala pursed her lips. "Daniel, as we both know, I am far from perfect--" 

She broke off as Daniel's guilty expression at the reprimand turned to one of soft worship, a look that said that in the sub's eyes, she was indeed perfect. Oh that look could go to a girl's head. "Darling..." she warned, feeling her cheeks warm with a blush.

"Okay, but you're _close_ to perfect, not far," he conceded stubbornly, but with a playful smirk tugging at his lips.

"My silly stubborn boy."

He grinned.

"Despite my very close proximity to perfection, if you have questions or observations, I want to hear them, immediately."

Daniel grew serious. "Yes, Vala." 

"All right. Bedtime now. Tomorrow we meet with our friends."

o-0-o

Daniel invited the entire team into his office the following day and, frankly, the big reveal was something of an anticlimax. He knew Vala was a ripping-off-the-bandaid kind of person, but she surprised even Daniel with her bluntness.

"Cameron, Samantha, Muscles," Vala blurted out immediately: "Daniel and I have begun a sexual relationship."  

The pronouncement was greeted by raised brows (Teal'c), an incredulous stare (Sam), and a badly smothered smirk (Mitchell). None of which communicated surprise. Quite the opposite, they all managed to convey an 'about time' message quite handily.

Peeved, Daniel stubbornly began, "Um, I know this comes as quite a _surprise_ to you--"

"Jackson, you dog, you!" Mitchell interrupted.

"So, you're together now." Sam words were more statement than question.

Daniel so wanted to announce they were in love, but knew the wrath, and paddle, of Vala would be sure to descend upon him. "We're...in a relationship."

Sam was startled. "And that's different?"

"Let's just say we're not picking out curtains yet," Daniel explained.

Vala gave a brilliant smile and hung on Daniel's shoulder. "We have an understanding."

Mitchell glanced back and forth between them, saying doubtfully, "Well, as long as _you_ guys understand it."

"I believe the Tau'ri phrase is, taking things slowly?" Teal'c offered.

"Yes!" Daniel nodded vigorously. "That's it exactly, Teal'c."

"You've hammered the nail in the head, Muscles," Vala agreed.

"So, the question is, is this okay with you all?" Daniel asked. "We're prepared to do whatever it takes to make it work for the team."

"Not to come off desperate or anything, but I don't want to lose either of you," Mitchell said. "I've finally gotten SG-1where I want it, and I'll be damned if I let it slip away now."

Sam nodded at Mitchell. "Relationships between teammates are supposed to be forbidden, but we've re-written so many rules here at the SCG. If I see something I have a problem with, I'll speak to you two about it, otherwise I'm willing to let things, um, 'go slowly.'" Her words were supportive, and Daniel took them at face value despite what he thought was the hint of a worried frown aimed at Vala.

Teal'c looked pleased as he said, "Many effective armies throughout the galaxy allow or even encourage special relationships between soldiers. I believe such only strengthen us."

With an air of summing things up, Mitchell said, "Keep it in your pants during missions, and I got no problems."

Vala arched a brow. "Really, Cameron, what would your dear mother say about such crudity?"

"Um, keep things professional on missions, please," the team leader amended sheepishly.

Domme Vala strikes again, Daniel thought with an internal smirk. He steered the ensuing conversation to an absolutely fascinating detail of kassa grain metabolomics that the Botany Department just discovered and sure enough the other three teammates backed out of the room within thirty seconds, all agreeing to meet for a late lunch in the commissary in a couple hours.

When they were alone Vala aimed her arched brow at Daniel: "It seems your improved mood is worth any number of bent regulations, darling."

"I know the whole base thinks all I needed was a good lay," he pouted, arms crossed.

"Well, that alone would've helped, the Lady only knows," Vala observed, giving him a conciliatory pat on the cheek.

When Vala left his office not too much later, Daniel decided he had one last fence to mend, and called up Jack O'Neill for a long talk. No, they didn't discuss a single thing involving feelings or even the 'friendship thing.' Hey, what do you expect? They're _guys_. They simply talked about hockey and astronomy and what Daniel thought about the new MP7 pistols versus the old P-90s and at the end of an hour, when they signed off promising to talk again soon, Daniel felt that their friendship was...okay. It had changed, yes, but it wasn't dead. A long-distance friendship across half the country was hard, but Jack would always be important to him.

Daniel looked around his office with a satisfied sigh, pleased with his life for the first time in a long time. Now he just had to pass his Domme's next milestone, their two-month anniversary, and convince her that he really loved her. Things would be perfect then.

No problem.


	39. Mistress Vala's Deadline Arrives

Vala sat in SG-1's off-world camp, watching with a contemplative chin on fist as Daniel attempted to make coffee for the two of them, fiddling impatiently with the flame control of an SGC-issue camp stove.

She couldn't believe that two months had already passed since that exhaustingly lovely Taming week, the time going both blindingly fast and deliciously slow. There were too many leisurely days to count: afternoons spent listening to Daniel reacquaint himself with his piano; lazy mornings of working on her loom as Daniel cooked breakfast, coming to kneel at her side, feeding tidbits to them both by hand from the same plate; and of course, evenings in front of the repaired fireplace, the gorgeous nude body of her sub glowing orangey-red in the reflected flames, sweat shining as he labored between her thighs. 

It was a delight and a privilege to watch Daniel grow stronger and more self-confident as time went on. She knew he didn't always appreciate his own strength, and as often as she reassured him, it was a struggle for him to truly believe that one of the biggest signs of strength was knowing when he needed help, and being willing to ask her for it. 

Only two weeks previously he had come to the corner of the Intelligence Unit she occupied now, her permanent desk when she wasn't helping Daniel with a translation or running her 'Galactic Sit-Rep 101' class (Cameron's nickname that stuck and became official) for incoming gaggles of personnel. She shared the office with three others, two Air Force officers and a civilian, with Vala contributing decades of interstellar intel, and the others, strategic expertise. Between the four of them they had made quite a bit of headway in predicting and anticipating the actions of the Lucian Alliance and various Goa'uld holdouts. It meant less time hanging around Daniel's office but it also made Vala feel more useful than ever.

On that day the office was empty save for herself, so no one was nearby to overhear when Daniel called her 'Mistress' in a soft voice. While they still followed Vala's rule of interacting as Domme and sub when alone together, his use of that particular title signaled his wish to interact with an extra strictness that Vala supplied without pause. He formally asked her to accompany him home that evening and she agreed immediately, because although she had effectively moved in to Daniel's house, she still spent many nights at the base.

Vala was very pleased. She knew Daniel had had a bad day and had hoped he would ask her for just this. 

It was sheer foolishness that had Daniel feeling guilty over an injury Cameron received. SG-1 had been on what the five of them privately called a 'Daniel mission,' nary a grain warehouse in sight, just a rambling ruin of a temple, with lots of exciting squiggles for Daniel to moon over. When an unexpectedly unstable plinth fell and bounced to hit Cameron's arm, dislocating his shoulder, Daniel immediately took the blame, thinking the worst of himself. It was 'his' mission, 'his' ruins, so 'his' fault. Of course no one else felt that way, least of all Cameron, but that was something Daniel had to work out for himself. With Vala's help of course.

Back at the SCG, Daniel handled things amazingly well. He didn't follow his old pattern, curling up into a defensive ball of hostility. He kept his temper, kept his attention on Cameron's injury and well-being, rather than withdrawing into his own self-centered guilt. He remained supportive, bribed the Infirmary nurses to smuggle in a thick slice of chocolate cake, teased Cameron over the team leader's apparent inability to dodge – in short Daniel played the all-around good guy, and Vala thought with pride how much he had changed. 

At home that evening, however, Daniel had paced the living room like a wounded animal, hunched over with his arms wrapped around himself, enclosed, encased, apart; torturing himself, reliving the day's events again and again, but with a tragic ending this time.

Daniel's emotions had been so open when he was young, but as the hard years went by he had had to clamp down or risk his sanity. With a qedesha to take care of him, however, he had an outlet, a way to cope that didn't require he shut down his compassion out of self-defense.

He needed a release that only his Domme could give him.  

Vala began with the judicious application of the paddle to her sub's buttocks, just enough strokes to focus his attention; his behavior rarely rated punishment any longer and it had been weeks since his last spanking. Next she had blindfolded him and fastened him spread-eagle on the bed. She bound his penis to deny him orgasm without her say-so (Daniel still wasn't able to control himself for more than a few minutes), then, the pièce-de-résistance, she bound his testicles separately, fastening them off tautly to the foot of the bed so that every time he thrust up into her as she rode him, he caused himself exquisite pain. And oh rest assured, Vala saw to it that he thrust up hard and enthusiastically.

Afterwards when he lay in her arms, sated, calm, at peace, Vala was so proud. Proud that of all the people on Earth or elsewhere, only she could give her brilliant boy what he needed.

Now, at the campsite on P7H-405 on their two-month anniversary, Daniel wrestled with the recalcitrant stove, frowning ferociously. He gave the lightweight contraption a firm thump with the heel of his hand and the heating element at last began to glow and warm. 

" _Finally_ ," he muttered. "The program is worth billions and they can't figure out how to supply us with workable coffeepots?"

Vala grinned. Yes, her sub was emotionally stable now, but nothing would ever make him tolerant of incompetence.

Vala and Daniel sat alone on the ledge of an old washing fountain, dry now, the bricks worn and smooth from generations of use. Overhead, spreading beech trees sent down dappled sunlight, the surrounding woodland encroaching and reclaiming the empty streets of a deserted town.

The rest of SG-1 were on the other side of a large eroded hill that Samantha had called a volcanic plug, deep in trade talks with 405's natives. The SGC was trying to gain access to an old mine the townsfolk had abandoned, tapped out to their more primitive methods, but which was still viable according to Samantha, who claimed the Tau'ri had methods to coax twice again as much high-grade naquadah out of the ancient igneous rock veins of the hill.

The natives had relocated to the other side of the volcanic hill a few generations ago, founding a new town where even now Cameron, in charge of the talks, was undoubtedly offering a few awkward gems of his grandma's homespun wisdom in support of the SGC's position, although Vala wasn't aware that his grandma had much experience in mining _God's Rock_... 

SG-1 had camped in the old town located by the original mine's entrance, abandoned when polluted run-off from the mine fouled the main water source. Daniel had given the ghost town a cursory look, but there wasn't much here for him as it had been vacated within living memory. Daniel's real reason for staying away from the trade-talks was to let Cameron get some experience.

Usually negotiations were Daniel's duty, but he was serious in his efforts at mentoring Cameron. After months of observation, Daniel had been subtly pushing the young commander to the fore. So today the linguist had stepped aside; after all, if Daniel always took over, how would Cameron learn? Staying behind on the opposite side of the hill, Daniel effectively forced SG-1's leader to perform without a web. Or was it, without a net? Whatever.

When the coffee was hot, Daniel poured two cups. He sat one aside for himself but when he turned to give the other to Vala, he froze halfway into a kneeling pose. She smiled, giving a stroke to his cheek. "Darling?" she prompted. She wanted to see what he would decide.

He unfroze, continuing his graceful sink down to his knees, smiling. "Well, we are alone, Vala," he said. "Not quite as comfortable with these stupid boots on, but...this feels right."

"It feels right to me too." Vala took the offered cup with a smile. "Thank you, darling." She sipped the warm drink, running fingers through her sub's hair with her free hand. Daniel sighed, all but melting against her leg.

They drank in a companionable silence for a time, the sunlight and shadows shifting across them, Daniel's brow gradually creasing into a frown. Vala was an expert reader of the many variations of her sub's expressive face and she recognized this as 'thoughtful' rather than 'worried.' 

"Thoughts, darling?" she asked mildly.

He glanced up with a shy smile. "It's nice, Vala, to sit like this. To be _able_ to sit like this on a mission, out in the open. If the others knew about us, we could do this all the time." It was worded as a statement, but Vala could hear the uncertainty.

"Yes, that's true," she said noncommittally.

"You know," Daniel continued thoughtfully, "off-world together, on watch or whenever we're alone, we've always spoken quietly, but I wonder if Teal'c's ever heard us."

"Jaffa do have good hearing," she remarked. 

"It would be okay if Teal'c knew," he admitted slowly. "I guess it would okay if Sam and Mitchell knew too, but..." He frowned some more, then shook his head doubtfully. "But I'm not sure if I'd want them to see us like this, Vala, knowing what it represents."

"But Teal'c you wouldn't mind seeing us?" Considering a lifetime of conditioning against showing any sign of weakness, the fact that it had only taken him two months to consider this possibility was a sign of his open-mindedness.

"I... Maybe. What do you think, Vala?"

"Good boy for deferring to me," she said giving his shoulder a squeeze. "As it affects your professional life, of course I won't act without your input, but I will do what I know is right for you. We'll make a decision once I've thought things over."

He looked alarmed at first, then ducked his head and looked at her sidelong, the sunlight playing over his face, a shy smile growing. "Funny, when this all started, I would've died at the thought of them even suspecting."

"You're a different person now, a better one I hope."

"I know I am." His smile turned smug and his raised his cup in a salute. "To our two month anniversary, Vala."

"'Anniversary'?" she inquired in an easy drawl that didn't mask the dangerous glitter of her eyes. "I believe I was clear that our relationship was not one such as are celebrated by 'anniversaries'." This was perhaps a cruel reprimand but, despite the fact that Vala had been thinking in just that term herself, she didn't want Daniel inflating their relationship into something it wasn't.

Daniel, however, wasn't cowed in the least. He gave a little duck of his head as he said, "Sorry for my presumption, Mistress," but his expression of cheerful expectancy didn't dim a jot.

Vala tried to maintain an expression of disapproval, giving it up to an eye roll as she sipped her coffee. As the leaves above them rustled in the breeze, she watched him over her cup's rim, taking a moment to relish this. It was so rewarding to see her Daniel finally living his life to the fullest potential, taking setbacks in stride, no more simmering resentment, boiling up at the most unexpected times, souring his outlook and poisoning his well-being, mystifying his friends and putting off newcomers. 

She even approved of his use of the dreaded title ‘Mistress,’ dreaded at least as proof that Daniel had realized his 'love' for Vala was only transference as Vala thought. After all, calling her Mistress as a title when under stress was one thing, but if he used it in a more personal situation, well, that was the end of Vala's dreams of something more, something deeper between the two of them.

"All right, Vala," Daniel said, raising a finger with a new thought. "What about, the two month anniversary of my graduation from Domme Vala's School of Self-Discovery?"

She tried to stop a grin but failed utterly. "You, my submissive, are very impertinent."

" _Guided_ Self-Discovery? Guided with extreme prejudice at times..." Daniel shifted his rump in mock discomfort, his grin matching hers.

"So would you say you were Tamed or Guided?" Vala asked.

"Tamed, Mistress," he averred humbly. "You tamed me, fair and square."

‘Mistress,’ she thought with a sinking heart. There again, that distance. "Am I your Mistress, then?" she asked, the question out before she could stop it, needing to know. This was Daniel's deadline to claim his supposed love for her was real or admit it was mere fantasy brought on by the rigors of his Training.

"Yes, Vala, of course you're my Mistress," he said, tone just a little puzzled as he tilted his head to one side.

His meaning was plain now, as plain as could be. She was his Mistress and nothing more, not a lover, never that. And it was enough, yes of course it was, she assured herself, heart seeming to freeze in her chest. Daniel was happy and at peace. If it wasn't all that Vala wanted, so be it. She wouldn't be greedy.

She gulped down the last of her coffee, thumping down the cup on the brick ledge and rising quickly, Daniel rearing back with a look of confusion. 

"Vala?"

"Just going to my tent for a moment," Vala stated with breezy unconcern.

All she needed was a minute alone, just to regroup, to mourn a love that wasn't meant to be, to resign herself to a lifetime as Domme only. She could do it, she _would_ do it. This was Daniel. But she just needed a minute to breathe... 

A minute she never got.

Vala had almost rounded the tumbledown stone wall their tents were staked beside when an energy weapon discharged against the rock inches from her head. In an explosion of stone chips and a flash of searing heat Vala ducked, barely registering a sharp pain in one cheek, rolling instinctively behind the wall, and hearing Daniel shout behind her.


	40. Trust the Lucians to Spoil an Anniversary

Vala's roll came to a hard stop against solid stone, and by the time she cleared her head and peered cautiously back around the wall, she saw Daniel still kneeling where she had left him, but now with hands upheld, two men on either side of him, one holding a gun to his head.

"Vala Mal Doran!" one man called. "Get out here right now or we'll cook your boyfriend's head from the inside out!"

Vala recognized him with a sinking heart: it was Vashin, a Lucian Alliance thug. His fat bearded face stretched in a smug grin, he was a vicious fighter, as methodical as he was violent, and his weapon pointed at as much of Vala as he could see around the wall.

The gun held on Daniel belonged to another man: Borzin. A fence for stolen spaceships, he usually operated independently but must be looking to prove himself to the Lucians. He had one hand firmly fastened on Daniel's shirt collar, the other jabbing an energy pistol at the linguist's head. 

This was unfortunately just what Vala and her Intel team had been theorizing, the Lucian Alliance was increasingly stepping into the power void the Goa'uld had left behind, not just on the smuggling side, but setting up semi-permanent outfits aimed at resource-theft. They must be after the same high quality naquadah the SGC wanted, but even Vala hadn't expected them to penetrate so boldly into a sector this close to Earth's influence.

Regardless, these two knew her and all of SG-1. Before she could formulate a reply, however, Daniel was talking. "Don't do it, Vala," he said calmly. "They won't kill me, I'm too valuable."

Of all the times for Daniel to demonstrate confidence in his self-worth.

"Shut the hell up, Jackson!" Vashin shouted, giving his helpless victim a vicious kick to the head even as he continued to train his rifle on Vala. Daniel rocked sideways with a suppressed grunt, Borzin following the movement with an amused and spiteful smile, his pistol not wavering from Daniel’s temple for a second. 

"Stop it!" Vala cried out, torn on what her best course of action should be. Where in the Lady's name had these two come from? A ship certainly, probably having landed further down the valley away from the Stargate, but had they been stalking SG-1? Or was this a lucky coincidence? Lucky for them at least. Either way, they knew what they had now and they wouldn't give Daniel up without a fight. And how was Vala supposed to fight when they had a gun to Daniel's head? Even without that advantage, she was outgunned, having only a zat on her person.

"Sure, sweet thing," Vashin called with a leer. "We'll stop it once you toss us your weapons and come out nice and easy."

"They're stalling, Vala," Daniel said, his voice labored but steady.

"I told you to shut up, Jackson." Vashin looked down at his prisoner in disbelief. He seemed to think that merely holding a gun on Daniel Jackson would guarantee the Tau’ri's cooperation.

Daniel frowned through his pain, a trickle of blood rolling down his forehead and into the blue eyes that bored into Vala's. "They've probably got a third man moving to cut you off. Get to the Stargate and--"

Vashin kicked Daniel again, in the face this time. "Why are you still talking?!" he yelled, his frustrated demand one that villains throughout the galaxy had been asking for over ten years now. 

"Daniel!" Vala called helplessly.

"Vala, get out of here, _now_!" A spray of blood from split and bleeding lips accompanied Daniel's desperate shout.

There was no mistaking that for anything but an order and Vala obeyed, spinning and running, her last image one of Daniel throwing himself to block any would-be pursuit by his two captors, Vashin's shot at Vala's retreat going wild and burning the tree branches above her head.

This wasn't home, this wasn't even the SGC. This was in the field on a mission and on missions Daniel was the boss. He was her superior officer and Vala had pledged on her honor to obey all orders.

Vala ran all out, instinctively keeping the cover of the broken wall between herself and the Lucians for as long as possible. She ran lightly, single-mindedly, avoiding the noisy crackle of dried beech leaves, dodging thick bushes, ducking under low branches. Daniel was right about a possible third man. She caught movement off to her left after the first hundred meters, but the Lucian's hasty shot missed by a wide margin and Vala didn't pause or even slow. Maybe she could take him down, maybe she couldn't. Regardless she didn't have time to waste and she left the cursing man behind in the dust. 

Getting help from the SGC was the best bet, the most logical course of action, just as Daniel said. The rest of the team was cut off from radio contact by the thick volcanic rock separating them. Running up the valley to the Stargate was the wise thing to do, running away from Daniel...

She splashed through a stream, starting up the rise the Gate stood on, panting hard, her mind working even faster than her feet. The Lucians must be flying a tel'tak ship, acting as scouts, this planet's small population and rich naquadah deposits irresistible to them. Now that whatever plan they'd had was thwarted, they were sure to take Daniel, take him back to their ship, fly away and sell him to the highest bidder.

And all Vala could do to help was run in the opposite direction.

Reaching the Stargate, she dialed home and reported the situation as succinctly as possible, getting a promise from General Landry of support arriving within the next twenty to thirty minutes. 

After she cut contact with Earth, she tried to hail SG-1 on her radio, but found the signal-blocking hill still cut off contact. So, breath coming in gasps she pushed herself up to higher ground, still going in the opposite direction from Daniel, the wrong direction, up the slope behind the Stargate, hoping more altitude would help. The new town where Cameron and the rest of her team were negotiating sat far downstream, just to the other side of the volcanic plug, the same direction the Lucian tel'tak must have landed. SG-1 should be able to skirt around the far side of the hill and quickly catch up to the Lucians.

Even knowing the logic of it, Vala still wanted to run back down the valley, irrationally certain she could catch up with Daniel and his captors. Or maybe demand that Cameron wait for her to run and join SG-1. But she did neither, the best thing she could do right now was run away from Daniel, away from the man she loved.

She scrubbed angrily at the tears that ran down her cheeks, telling herself it was only the wind whipping them out of her eyes.

Five minutes and seven tries later Vala finally raised a signal on the radio. "Read you loud and clear," Cameron answered her query. "What's up, Princess?"

Vala made her report in gasps, keeping her sentences short and to the point: "Daniel's been captured. At least three Lucian hostiles. I believe they are taking him to possible tel'tak ship located in downstream valley. I've alerted the SGC. Backup to arrive in ten to twenty minutes."

"Roger that," Cameron said after a short pause, his voice flat and businesslike. "Remain at the Gate to liaise with S and R team. Send them down the valley. We'll coordinate via secure radio ASAP."

"Roger," she whispered and cut the connection.

She returned down the hill, stopping at the Stargate and holding herself there, holding herself still even as she vibrated with the need to move. SG-5, the Search and Rescue team, came through and she sent them on their way promptly, staying behind, waiting again. 

This is where she could do the most good, she assured herself as the long minutes dragged by, listening to the terse radio reports as the two teams coordinated their efforts, no news yet as to whether Daniel had been sighted. She wouldn't think about Daniel being taken to the Lucian's ship, about the sheer size of the galaxy, about the hundreds of Lucian ports and hideaways scattered across a thousand star systems. 

This is where logic and duty demanded she stay. If a medical team were needed, someone had to be at the DHD to relay the message. It wouldn't come to that, of course, Daniel would be fine, of course he would, he always was, but just in case–

"Princess, come in!" came Cameron's voice from the radio. He sounded breathless, like he was running.

"I'm here!" she reported.

"You still by the Stargate, girl?"

Vala closed her eyes in dread. She recognized his faux-casual Southern drawl for what it was: an attempt to calm people down when things were truly desperate. "I am," she stated, heart pounding in her ears.

"Do us a favor and call in a medical team to meet us in the Gate room, huh? We managed to get Jackson back, but I'm thinking a look-see by a doctor would be a pretty good thing right about now."

Vala had already finished dialing by the time he stopped speaking, hitting the center glyph as she asked him dispassionately, "What is your ETA?"

"Five to ten," he panted, not bothering with any folksiness at this point.

Vala passed the information efficiently to the SGC, entering SG-1's iris code and positioning herself at the wormhole with her arm in the event horizon, holding it open. She stood there like a statue, staring steadily down the valley, willing Daniel to appear.

Finally she saw the two teams charge into view from out of the trees and ford the stream. They carried a field stretcher, two SG-5 members in the back and Teal'c carrying the front by himself, Cameron and Samantha at the front of the combined group, their faces visibly somber even at this distance. There was no IV set up, typically the case when speed was paramount, because they were all jogging as fast as they could, as if every second counted...

As if it were a matter of life or death.

The two teams shot past the DHD without slowing, up the steps to where Vala stood in the rigid parody of a doorman, and as they plunged through the wormhole she finally got a close look at Daniel's utterly still body lying on the stretcher, his lax face white as paper under livid bruises, his clothes soaked bright and vivid with blood. 

Samantha had stepped to one side and when it was only the two of them left on the planet, she took Vala's arm in a gentle grip. "He's badly wounded, but he's still alive."

The Domme stared blankly at the rippling event horizon, whispering in a daze, "The submissives' trim is a rich crimson symbolizing the earth and the blood which makes life possible."

Samantha peered at her in concern. "Are you all right, Vala?"

"Yes, Samantha, I’m fine," Vala responded flatly.

"Come on, it'll be okay." Samantha gave a coaxing tug to Vala's arm. "Let's go home."

"Yes."


	41. Two Debriefings

A lot of things happened to Vala after Samantha took her arm: a trip home through the wormhole; conversations she barely paid attention to and couldn't remember afterward; a checkup in the Infirmary; the bandaging of a cut on her cheek she didn't remember receiving; a shower; a long wait in a featureless room as Dr. Lam operated on Daniel. 

A very long wait. Staring up at cracks in the ceiling tiles. Watching Cameron pace back and forth across the shabby floor. Wishing the SGC had a working healing device.

Then Carolyn was there in front of them, SG-1 rising to their feet as one, the doctor snapping off gloves, peeling off cap and mask, speaking: "The operation went well, he's pulled through and he should be okay."

Vala held herself tight, the relief so overpowering that she was afraid to even open her mouth, just breathing deep and slow, her teammates jostling her as they traded reassuring hugs and pats on the back.

"Yes!" Cameron crowed. "I knew it'd take more'n a thousand joules of plasma to keep Jackson down!" 

Carolyn gave Cameron a disapproving frown but nodded. "It's actually good in a way that it was damage from an energy weapon as it partially cauterized the wound. The damage from a projectile would've caused him to bleed out long before you reached the Gate." The usually serious young woman gave a tired but pleased smile. "He's lost a foot or so of intestine, but nothing vital was affected and he should be back on his feet in a week and back to normal a couple weeks after that."

After being denied the chance to sit with Daniel until he was moved out of the recovery room, Vala let herself be led down to the briefing room where SGs 1 and 5 met with General Landry and the day's events were analyzed. 

Vala contributed her report as succinctly as possible, more interested in what happened during the rescue. Cameron and the rest described how they caught sight of the Lucians as they approached the tel'tak with their captive, the two teams splitting up to try and trap the Lucians in a pincer maneuver.

"And that's how you recovered Daniel?" Vala asked. "But how did he get wounded? And what happened to the Lucians?"

"Uh, not exactly," Samantha conceded. "We were just a little too late to catch them and a little too far away to shoot without running the risk of hitting Daniel."

"So what happened?" General Landry prompted.

Cameron spread his hands with a reluctantly admiring smile. "Basically Jackson doin' what he does best: pissin' people off," he said, his exaggerated drawl surfacing again. "The doc dug his heels in and deliberately slowed them down. It got to the point where they had to choose between giving up on the whole thing or risk getting captured by us." His smile dropped and he shot Vala an apologetic glance. "But, uh, unfortunately, they chose door number three." 

She shook her in confusion.

"Guess they figured if they didn't get their prize, no one should," he explained. "They shot Jackson in the gut and hightailed it to the ship. They knew we'd be too busy taking care of him to continue pursuit."

Landry began to speak, something about congratulations on the two teams' fast action, but Vala's mind whited out like a fuzz of static.

They shot him. They vindictively, deliberately shot him.

"How _dare_ they?" Vala hissed, holding onto the table edge with shaking hands, her heart pounding, every second of the day since those two men accosted her submissive in the old town crowding up in her mind, every bit of frustration, every moment of sheer terror, every suppressed protective impulse, every second of enforced inactivity, all of it rising in her body in a hot choking tide. 

The conversation stuttered to a halt around her and Samantha said tentatively, "Vala?"

"To–to thrown him away?" Vala demanded in outrage, her voice rising to a shout. She found herself on her feet, Samantha and Cameron staring in astonishment. "As if he were–were garbage! As if he were nothing but garbage!?" She was screaming now, she could hear herself but she couldn't stop, didn't want to stop. "My Daniel! _My_ Daniel! _How dare they?!_ "

She picked up a water pitcher from the table in front of her and flung it at the windows, SG-5's leader ducking in shock. The pitcher was sturdy plastic, but not sturdy enough. It split open with a sharp report, water flying. 

But that it wasn't enough. Vala grabbed at her chair, wanting to throw it, to break it, to break anything and everything, wanting to rend and tear those men down to pieces until they begged for mercy, until even a sarcophagus couldn't begin to heal the damage she'd done, then watch as they died, and laugh and spit in their faces as they breathed their last ragged, _bloody_...

Gasping and sobbing she came back to herself to find Teal'c pining her arms in a tight hug from behind, Samantha cupping her face and calling her name softly, Cameron gripping her shoulder; her team was with her, and they stayed with her, quiet and calm, until she was steady enough to go sit with Daniel.

o-0-o

Vala spent much of the next few days at Daniel's bedside, watching and waiting patiently: as his peaceful sleep gradually turned to groggy confusion, as nurses performed numerous checkups, as Dr. Lam pronounced him healing well, as the pain slacked off and he became alert enough to speak coherently. 

In the aftermath of a visit one morning from the rest of SG-1, Daniel and Vala sat amid the detritus of the team's goodwill: a bag of chocolate walnut cookies from Samantha, an illicit latte smuggled in by Cameron, and the remains of a cup of tapioca pudding 'comfortable food' provided by Teal'c. 

Daniel shared the cookies with Vala and the two munched appreciatively for a few minutes in companionable silence, then Daniel glanced around to make sure they were alone. "Mistress?" he asked tentatively.

It was _that_ word, the title that proved Daniel didn’t really love her, but she quashed her self-centered reaction. For Daniel, the word was simply his signal for a more formal conversation and Vala awarded him her full attention. "Yes, sweetheart?" 

Daniel lowered his eyes anxiously, then looked at her sidelong, blinking. "Vala, are you mad at me?"

"Heavens, no, darling." Vala assured him, mentally kicking herself for being so selfishly distracted. "Seeing you injured like that... I admit it was a little overwhelming."

"I'm sorry I put you through that, Vala."

"The Lucians put us both through it," Vala assured him. "However, I _am_ concerned at the way you jumped to the rescue with no thought to your own safety."

"Um, I thought you might say that, Vala." Daniel gave her another sidelong look, contrite this time. "I, uh– Back at the camp, I couldn't let them get ahold of you, Vala, I just _couldn't_."

She sighed and cupped his cheek, bringing his face up to meet her eyes. "I understand, darling, however I was very worried about you." She ran her fingers through his hair, feeling the grit of leftover dust from '405. At the reminder, she scolded, "You were foolishly reckless and don't doubt for a minute that you won't be punished severely once you're well enough."

Daniel glanced around again, tongue nervously flicking out to moisten his lips. "Vala, I'm not sure you should threaten to paddle me in the middle of the Infirmary," he whispered.

"Oh, I won't use a paddle, you don't deserve it," she stated primly, not lowering her voice a whit; she knew there was no one within hearing distance. "I will put you over my knee and spank you with my bare hand, and you _will_ feel it, I assure you."

The submissive's eyes widened, darkening, and she could see his penis jump under the sterile white sheets. Then he squawked, grabbing at himself. "Ow! Vala, catheter here!"

"Humph. Consider that the start of your punishment." She crossed her arms, staring down at him archly.

His reply of, "Yes, Vala," was submissive enough, but the gleam of humor shone through.

She sighed again, in surrender to the inevitable this time. "I suppose what you did was...somewhat...heroic."

The sub brightened with a pleased smile. She rolled her eyes. " _Men_." As his smile grew to a grin, Vala continued, "You should know, at the debriefing it became, ah, shall we say, _obvious_ that the two of us are in a relationship, and you'll be happy to know that we have received official blessings."

"Really?"

"Cameron, Samantha and Teal'c all agreed that the two of us showed we could obey orders and perform professionally despite our feelings, and that was good enough for General Landry. He said he made a personal note of it our files and sees no need to involve any other oversight."

"That's great," Daniel said. "I was a little worried that someone higher up the food chain might make a fuss." Then he looked at her curiously. "Um, about that debrief, Mitchell told me you pitched the pitcher, then you pitched a tantrum. Not sure what that meant, but he seemed impressed."

Vala grimaced. "I was perhaps a tad upset about what those three disgusting, horrid, _vile_ –! Um, what those Lucians did to you."

Daniel smiled shyly. "That's kinda nice in a way."

Shaking her head, Vala admitted, "I'm quite ashamed of myself. As Guide qedesha I should be in control of myself at all times."

"Well, you're not _just_ my Guide, not anymore."

"What do you mean?" 

Daniel blinked at her in a confusion that mirrored her own, then his brow cleared. "Oh yeah. I guess I never finished what I had to say back at camp."

"Never finished...?" Vala repeated blankly. "What did you have to say?"

"That I passed your silly two-month waiting period and that I still love you," Daniel explained blithely.

"'Silly'? Nothing I do is silly–!" Her brain caught up with her tongue. "Wait _what?_ You–you love...?"

"Duh. I forgot I didn't get a chance to say that," Daniel remarked as if it was no more important than the weather.

"You forgot?!"

"Well, there were all the heroics and the blood loss and whatnot and it just kinda slipped my mind."

She glared, but he just gave an impertinent shrug.

"I was trying to explain but you flounced away in a huff to go sulk in your tent."

"I do not flounce, huff _or_ sulk, I'll have you know."

"Coulda fooled me," he muttered.

Her glare began to give way to incredulous hope. Daniel...Daniel loved her? Truly? But it _couldn’t_ be true. "You called me Mistress," she accused with a pout, as if that should explain everything.

And apparently it did, because Daniel seemed to understand. He gave a gentle smile, reaching up to cup her stubborn chin. "Yes, my Mistress, I did."

"You said I Tamed you," she insisted.

"Yes, my Domme, you Tamed me," he said patiently. "But you didn't make me love you. _That_ I did all by myself and the seeds were already there, just waiting for your warmth to make them sprout and grow."

Vala's heart pounded with joy, but she worked hard to keep her face neutral as she sniffed with faux-disapproval. " _So_ sentimental."

Not fooled by her act for a second, Daniel just cocked his head and observed, "Misdirection. Wow, and you say _I'm_ transparent."

"You're just assuming I'll go along with this?" she asked archly. "That I will believe you?"

"Yeah, Vala, I guess I am."

"And you believe that I...that I return these feelings?"

"Yeah, Vala, I guess I do."

"So, Mr. Tone Deaf," Vala said, voice becoming hoarse even as she tried to remain flippant. "How did you become so aware of the feelings of those around you?"

"I had a good teacher," Daniel stated, his eyes fixed on hers, his smile gentle and infinitely sweet. "The best. But she's more than my teacher, she's my friend, my Mistress...and my lover. She's my life."

Vala took a deep breath, willing her pounding heart to slow, the pricking of tears at her eyes to stop. She leaned over to him, drawing him carefully closer with a gentle hand to the back of his head, mindful of his still-healing injury. Daniel remained passive, letting her guide their actions, trusting her, his eyes a thin rim of brilliant blue surrounding blown pupils.

It didn't matter that they were in the Infirmary, that the murmur of nearby conversations surrounded them, that Daniel smelled of antiseptics and old sweat, that Vala hadn't changed her clothes since she first returned from that awful planet, that leaning over an Infirmary gurney was ridiculously awkward, not even that her butt hurt from having sat in that damn chair for three days straight.

She started slow, testing him, gauging him, her Domme nature always protective toward her charge. She nipped at his full lower lip, his eyes fluttering closed in response. She licked at the corner of his mouth, then along his lips, then at his teeth... Then she enveloped his mouth possessively. He tasted of the lingering chocolate sweetness from the cookies, the tang of coffee, and just a hint of tapioca. He tasted of _Daniel_ , and she swirled her tongue at will, exploring, firming the kiss, fingers clenching in his hair. And Daniel, no longer content with his passivity, thrust back, dueling with his agile tongue, stroking his Domme in return, their tongues coiling and dancing together.

After a time, starved for breath, they broke apart a few inches, staring, both of them helpless in the face of this new paradigm, both overwhelmed.

"I love you, Vala."

"I love _you,_ my Daniel. I have for so long."

Even as he smiled with joy, he looked a little disappointed. "I want to be your lover with all my heart, Vala, but I'm going to miss my Domme."

She tilted her head, one brow raised with amusement. "Darling boy, this changes nothing. Your Domme is still in charge." As he stared like a mouse trapped in a cat's paws, Vala continued in a soft purr, "In fact I will if anything be harder on a submissive _lover_ than a mere submissive petitioner."

Vala reclaimed the stunned sub then, plundering his mouth at will. Daniel panted around her tongue, then squirmed and grabbed at his groin, the catheter surely bothering him again, a despairing little grunt of discomfort huffed into Vala's mouth. Vala's lips curved in a smile against Daniel's and she dove her tongue down to deepen the kiss.


	42. Sealing the Deal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another Purple Prose Alert! Heck, who am I kidding? This one shades into Ultraviolet! Seriously, I think I need an intervention. There's just something about these two that brings out the Harlequin Romance in me, sorry. 
> 
> The poem (yes, god help me, there's a poem) is 'The Gateway' by A.D. Hope (an Aussie poet, in honor of Claudia Black). While I know that Daniel, being a linguistic genius, could come up with a beautiful impromptu poem, I certainly can't, so I had to cheat. Whether Daniel was simply quoting an existing poem or extemporaneously composing an original is up to the reader to decide.

By the time Dr. Lam had cleared Daniel as fit for duty, Vala was biting at the bit, or whatever the silly Tau'ri phrase was, her hands almost itching. Whatever the phrase, she had no intention of biting anything other than her sweet boy. 

Yes, the fellatio she regularly indulged in was all very lovely indeed, but she wanted, needed to taste him, to finally kiss him, all over.

They had been stuck at the Mountain for almost three weeks, first because of Daniel's recovery, then a quarantine (the Exo-Botany Department _would_ pick the worst time to experiment with a plant that could spray fast-growing spores in a hundred yard radius). 

Now, however, late one evening, they were at last on their way home--yes, it was home, _their_ home. Vala squeezed gently with the hand she had resting on Daniel's leg and the sub graced her with one of his toe-curling smiles as he steered the Wagoneer up the driveway and into the garage. 

Oh he was so very lovely. And all hers. The Domme licked her lips, a wet heat pooling in her womanhood, the heat spreading throughout her body even as the moisture saturated her panties.

The automatic garage door had barely closed and Daniel had just taken the key out of the ignition when Vala ordered in a no-nonsense voice, "Go to the bedroom. Strip and kneel at attention on the bed. Now."

Throwing her one wild look of equal parts apprehension, anticipation and lust, Daniel shot out of the jeep. He stumbled over the wood planks which still littered the garage floor in his haste, but he made it to and through the doorway into the house proper. Her last glimpse saw him hopping on one foot as he began to tug the other shoe off. She spared a moment's worry for Daniel's stocking feet in conjunction with the slick wooden floors of the house, but she heard no crash, so hoped for the best.

Vala took her time exiting the vehicle, closing the car door Daniel had left open. She walked to the bedroom down the short hall, following Daniel's trail: one shoe, two; one sock, two; his jacket, over-shirt and t-shirt all stripped off together and laying in one crumpled heap in the bedroom doorway. Jeans and boxers had been discarded simultaneously too and they lay in a line on the bedroom floor like an arrow pointing to Vala's prize.

Daniel had knelt on the bed as ordered, open and splayed for her, just for her. His eyes fastened on to her's immediately as she entered, the usual bright blue dark as midnight with desire. He had restored his collar to its proper place after leaving the Infirmary and his chin lifted proudly, displaying the proof of Vala's ownership. In a display just as proud, his manhood jutted prow-like, already hard and weeping at the sight of her.

He would do anything for her, she knew. He loved her and he would do anything for her, as she would for him.

Vala prowled from one side of the bed to the other, heels clicking as she went, stripping off slowly, jacket and black tank top first, boots and jeans next, looking her sub over from every angle, finding no fault. 

Frequently in the past Vala was content to let her sub lead their sexual congress: for all his progress, she didn't want to scare him away. But tonight...this was for her. She knew what she wanted and she meant to take it. Her Dominant side had free rein.

Wearing only a black lace bra and panties, Vala went to the trunk where she kept her supplies, pulling out her favorite flogger. She'd made it herself a while ago, cutting and binding a piece of supple leather, an improvement over the simple rope flogger she had thrown together the week of Daniel's initial Taming. 

Coming back to the bed, Vala looked the sub over, considering options. “Hands and knees,” she ordered eventually.

He obeyed with the grace of weeks of practice.

So beautiful, her sub. Vala had often thought he looked positively edible. Tonight she would put that to the test.

o-0-o

“I know I don’t have to go over the rules," Vala observed quietly. "You know not to speak without permission, not to move from a position once placed, not to ejaculate without permission.”

Yes, Daniel knew these rules, was used to following them. It was easy, really. Vala’s ropes would hold him tight.

“Tonight, however, will be different,” Vala continued. “I will not be helping. There will be no restraints and you will maintain control on your own.”

Daniel felt a flash of panic, swallowing hard. No bindings? He loved the embrace of Vala's clever ropes, as safe and comforting as her arms. Could he do it? Could he hold still, hold off? He met her slate-grey eyes, sharp and uncompromising and...confident. Confident in him. He took a cleansing breath, firmed his gaze on his beautiful Domme. Vala thought he could do this. So he would.

Vala nodded approvingly and clambered up on the bed beside Daniel as he waited there on hands and knees. She started softly, stroking his skin, pressing her lips to it, kissing along a shoulder blade. Her kisses firmed and she suckled at him, drawing morsels of flesh in, licking with her tongue, biting lightly with her teeth, the suction drawing his blood up just under the skin's surface. 

Daniel's grunt of surprise turned to an appreciative moan.

So delicious. Vala had waited so long for this taste, this scent so close to her nostrils. Ordering him flat on his belly with his hands held above his head, she traveled her lips and teeth over his shoulders, down his broad back narrowing to trim hips, along the firm globes of his rump to the tender crevice at his seat, down his legs, alternating as she went. She took her time, there was no hurry, this feast was all for her.

Daniel twitched with abortive squirms, helpless to do more than voice panting gasps as his Domme traveled his body. Her warm saliva-slick lips and hot tongue dragged a line of moist fire to each fresh patch of skin, fastening on, a confusing sensation of nipping teeth and suction and heat making the blood rise and sing in his veins. One tiny part of his brain was trying to remember how long it took hickeys to fade, but most didn't give a crap, not if it felt this good.

With a last nip to the heel of Daniel’s foot, Vala leaned back, stretching. She reclined on the pillows piled at the headboard, one leg stretched out, the other propped up with bent knee.

“Let me feel that lovely tongue, darling,” she ordered in a languid purr.

Daniel half-rose, pivoting on his knees and crawling to her, his cock swinging thick and heavy under him. She had left her panties on and, without permission to use his hands, he erred on the safe side, nosing the silk panty-crotch aside and working around the block with tongue and lips.

Controlling his head with a firm grip in his hair, Vala moderated his enthusiastic ministrations. A small orgasm sounded quite nice right about now, but she didn't want to peak too early. With her other hand she picked up the leather flogger and, as he worked, she laid it about on his back and rump, her strokes soft, provoking, teasing.

The flogger wasn't for her, it was for Daniel. She knew his submissive nature craved that little extra bite, that ultimate proof of surrender. As she had assured him that first week, she had no interest in the delivery of pain for pain's sake alone. Yet she wouldn't be a Dominant if she didn't get at least a little thrill from seeing the supple leather tails caressing those lovely red marks she had just branded onto her sub, the glyphs and sigils of her ownership.

For Daniel the flogger, though wielded lightly, stung with extra force, Vala’s hickeys serving like tenderizer. He grunted as the leather tails curled around his prominently raised butt and wide spaced thighs, but didn’t pause in his duty, licking and sucking at the delicious folds of flesh his Domme offered him.

When her climax rolled through her, Vala sighed, letting Daniel sooth her swollen womanhood for a time, then nudging him away. She could see he was stiffer than ever, his erection leaking pre-come onto the bedspread. It was obvious what he wanted, but what _Vala_ wanted right now...was a snack.

Patting Daniel’s head, Vala rose and went to the kitchen, taking a few minutes to look over her choices, and deciding on fruit and chocolate. She loaded up a plate, filled a cup with water, and, on the way back through the living room, paused to peruse Daniel's music discs. Deciding on some Gershwin, she put on her favorite, Concerto in F. Vala thought the orchestrated piece was a nice representation of Daniel and herself: formulaic patterns of brilliant intricacy, yet unpredictably playful and jazzy at the same time.

Returning to the bedroom, she climbed back to the head of the bed, Daniel jostling as she moved but of course still remaining crouched exactly as she had left him. Vala stroked his hair absently, saying, "Sorry, darling, no surprises from the kitchen today, just a snack to give us a little energy." She settled down cross-legged, placing the plate in front of her and the cup on the bedside table. 

With a teasing smirk, Vala picked up the suggestively shaped banana she had chosen. She peeled the skin low, exposing the fruit within, Daniel watching wide-eyed as she proceeded to lick the flat of her tongue up the fat sugary curve. She ended by forming a wide "O" with her lips and sinking down on the fruit's top, biting it off and rolling it on her tongue.

"Hmm, that tastes _so_ good," she moaned with exaggerated gusto.

Even through his unsatisfied lust, Daniel's eyes narrowed slightly as he fought the urge to roll them.

"You _have_ to try it, darling," she declared, holding the banana out to him to take a bite of his own.

His brows quirked and Vala laughed. "I know you don't -what is it?- _swing_ that way, sweetheart, but just for now, for the sake of keeping your strength up."

Daniel popped his mouth open, taking the bite as instructed.

Vala smiled approvingly and, as they listened to the synthesis of classical and jazz that was Concerto in F, she shared the rest of the fruit with her sub in alternating bites. Daniel ate without fuss, his blue eyes fixed on her, glittering in the soft light.

When the banana was gone, Vala gave them each a few swallows from the cup of water. Next came two squares of dark chocolate. Holding the first piece delicately in her teeth, Vala leaned down, lifting Daniel's face double-handed, and pressed their lips together, each coming away from the kiss with half the chocolate. Licking her lips with a satisfied smile, she did the same with the second square.

Pushing the empty plate aside, the Domme relaxed back in the pillows, letting Daniel suck and lick the remnants of banana and chocolate from her fingers, stroking his face with her other hand as if petting a favored dog, gazing absently up at the canopy she had woven for the bed the month before as she hummed along with the music.

Usually she wanted all of Daniel, the full man, but right now Vala simply wanted her obedient sub, as was her right as Dominant.

Desire grew in her once again and, ready for more fun, Vala ordered Daniel to his back. As he obeyed, she noted his erection had flagged a bit. Good, he had a while to go before she planned to allow him any relief.

“Spread your legs,” she directed. “Wider. Yes, that's nice, keep them there. Now lay your hands above your head. Palms up. Let them lie loose and open. Oh, that's so very nice, darling.”

Daniel submitted, laying open and purposefully relaxed. He missed Vala’s usual comforting bonds, but he was surprised to find that he didn't need mere ropes right now: the sub and his physical body were bound with far sturdier ties: love, respect, devotion.

Vala dove into this fresh banquet laid out for her, mouthing Daniel as if consuming him, wanting to bring all of him within herself, if only symbolically. To swallow her sub down whole, hold him deep, keep him safe...make him _hers_.

She tasted every inch of him, her teeth and tongue active, from the sensitive skin of his feet and ankles, up the powerful calf and thigh muscles of his legs. She tarried at his groin, indulgently reacquainting herself with the thick erection there, licking and nibbling as if it were an ice cream cone, Daniel gasping as more pre-come wept from his slit.

Taking pity on the straining sub, Vala stretched and pinched the base of his testicles to lend him a little control before engulfing him first with her mouth, then, stripping off her bra and panties, mounting to ride him. She amused herself for some time as she twisted and experimented, pleasuring herself with his penis as if it were simply a toy, a prop for her use.

Vala stroked and pinched her own nipples as she arched her back, shuddering through an orgasm. Daniel watched in a daze, his slow-blinking eyes still trained on her, but gone hazy. He tensed at her orgasm, but did not climax himself. Of course not. She hadn't given him permission.

“Hmm, such a good boy,” Vala murmured. “You’re doing so well, sweetheart.” And he was. He had come so far, even a month ago this would have been too much, submitting for _her_ pleasure alone. She could see he was in a submissive trance, using all his willpower for her purposes, subsuming his own wants and needs.

Some tiny analytical part of Daniel’s brain unknowingly agreed with his Domme, recognizing this feeling as what the qedesha called dream-floating. It wasn't exactly easy for him to maintain control, feeling Vala’s intimate flesh rush and squeeze against his own, but in this detached reality it wasn't exactly difficult either. 

Daniel simply...floated, unthinking, just feeling, a ship sailing unharmed on storm tossed waves, a plane flying high above hurricane winds, Vala taking him within herself not just literally but metaphorically, becoming his anchor, his harbor. She was his tether, his center, everything came _from_ her, _through_ her. Without her word, he was nothing. He was her wishes made flesh, passively floating on waves of pleasure or pain, timeless and serene.

Lifting off Daniel’s still stiff erection as if dismounting a stallion, Vala continued her slow exploration of his body, kissing, licking and suckling her way up his taut abdomen, teasing and nibbling at the stiff nubs of his nipples.

Taking two delightful side trips along his strong arms, Vala drank in his healthy masculine scent, dropping kisses along his thick biceps, lapping at his elegant fingers, ending with hard nips at the sensitive finger pads of his right hand: he would remember this moment every time he used a pen or keyboard for days to come.

Returning to his chest, she sat straddling his torso, grinding her moist slit against the hard muscles of his abdomen as she licked and laved her way along his collar bones and the hollow of his throat, passing over the nubby weave of the collar that marked Daniel as hers, kissing the tender skin under his jaw, finally reaching the plump fullness of his lower lip.

Holding his head double-handed, she engulfed his mouth at last, possessing it, plumbing its depths. Daniel moaned, offering a spirited response, but not initiating any action himself.

Drawing their slick lips apart, Vala sighed, “Oh my lovely, tasty submissive...”

She knelt to one side and took up the flogger again, applying it gently but thoroughly. She carefully judged his reactions, enjoying every quelled arch and bitten off verbalization. The flogger made his blood pound, vibrant and rich, brought his whole body to life. He was pure physicality now, no pesky thoughts plaguing that big brain, just sheer sensation.

Vala reveled in his submission, pleased at his control, as she would never intentionally ask more of him than he was capable of.

His body warm and flushed, she decided to play just a little bit more. She tossed the flogger to one side, finished with it for the night, and mounted her sub once more, reversed this time, facing away from him.

Daniel register a vague disappointment, missing the sharp grey eyes of his Domme, wishing he could touch the lovely rump that rode his cock, mesmerized as it moved like a merry-go-round horse pumping up and down on its pole. His fingers itched to touch but he left them laying lax above his head as told, not even clenching his fists, keeping all of himself passive and still, exactly as she had placed him, even as the Domme’s channel fluttered around his captive cock.

Vala suppressed her orgasm, keeping it small, saving the best for last. Daniel's manhood still buried deep, the limber woman swiveled around, twisting like a corkscrew, the sub groaning at the sensation. 

Facing forward again, Vala caressed Daniel's cheek, and the tenderness in her gorgeous face, the naked vulnerability she usually hid made Daniel’s breath catch, his heart clench in his chest.

“I love you, Daniel,” she whispered.

Daniel huffed in distress, wanting so much to answer in kind.

“Do you have anything to say to me, darling?” Vala asked gently.

“Vala! God, I love you!” he pledged in a hoarse burst.

"Then fill me up, my Daniel," she begged.

His manhood jumped and swelled within her, flooding her with warmth; he cried out, wordless but unable to hold back the joy that filled him, face transported, back arched; she moved with him, holding him steady, holding her own; and both still shuddered in ecstasy when Vala cried out, “Touch me!” and Daniel sprang up, pumping into her anew, strong arms enclosing her, wrapping her up, lips kissing her hard, tongue plundering deep, and the strongest orgasm of the evening ripped like thunder and lightning through Vala, and she screamed her completion into Daniel’s mouth.

Afterwards Vala lay a long time, languid and content, curled up on Daniel’s broad chest. Barely a handspan of Daniel’s skin didn't bear witness to Vala's possessiveness, crescent-shaped teeth marks and mottled bruises of blood sucked to the surface, overlaid by welts from the flogger. 

Daniel’s wide-splayed fingers skimmed compulsively over his Domme's skin, as if trying to touch as much of her as possible, all of her at once if he could. He rolled them to one side, sliding out of her, drawing their lips together for another kiss, less passionate but no less loving. When their lips parted, he stroked her face contemplatively, then, his blue eyes serious and his voice soft, he began to speak:

“Now the heart sings with all its thousand voices  
To hear this city of cells, my body, sing.  
The tree through the stiff clay at long last forces  
Its thin strong roots and taps the secret spring.

“And the sweet waters without intermission  
Climb to the tips of its green tenement;  
The breasts have borne the grace of their possession,  
The lips have felt the pressure of content.

“Here I come home: in this expected country  
They know my name and speak it with delight.  
I am the dream and you my gates of entry,  
The means by which I waken into light.”

Vala gave a tremulous smile, tears pricking at her eyes. “Thank you, my brilliant submissive. I love you so.” She bestowed a swift peck of a kiss to the tip of his nose and burrowed deeper into his arms.

They lay in contemplative silence for a time, listening to the crescendo and finish of Gershwin's concerto on the stereo.

“Vala, I want us always to be like this,” Daniel finally announced.

Vala smiled, breathing in his scent as she snuggled her face into the crook of his neck. “So do I, darling.”

“I always want to live as a submissive, _your_ submissive.”

Vala pulled back to look him in the eye. “If that's what you want, then you will, sweetheart. I promise.”

Daniel nodded, still serious. “And god help me, I want to be like the sub you told me about before. Remember, Vala? Never complaining, always obeying, always loyal...even to the point of death.”

Vala suppressed a shudder, praying that there would never come a time that her own inattention to his safety ever brought Daniel to the point of injury. “That's what makes you as you are,” she said. “It’s my job to keep you safe, to cherish and protect you.”

“Thank you, Mistress,” he said, a shy smile blooming, his seriousness fading. He sighed, his embrace firming. “This is as close to perfect as a person could ever come, Vala.”

Vala smiled, kissing his lips, happy to have brought him this peace, and just a little sad at the qualification of his statement, the cynicism his hard life had forced on the instinctive gentleness of his heart.

“But there's one last thing I think I need,” Daniel continued.

“Tell me, darling,” she said without hesitation.

“I want to tell the team about us, Vala. Everything about us. I don't want there to be any secrets.”

“Then that's what will happen.”


	43. Telling the Family

Daniel had some big news, Sam knew it. She just had no idea what it could be.

The linguist had asked SG-1 to meet him at O'Malley's for drinks after work. From anyone else, she would've assumed a simple team night get-together, but Daniel never initiated team nights. He had always scorned them, although he usually played along to a greater or lesser degree. Actually though, Sam realized now that she thought about it, he hadn't made too much fuss these last couple months or so.

Sam parked her bike, making sure her precious Indian 101 Scout was in a safe spot, tucked her gloves into her leather jacket, slung her small satchel over her back and smoothed down her black jeans. She entered the overly warm restaurant, packed with the usual Friday night crowd, catching sight of Teal'c, visible as usual through any gathering of mere Tau'ri. Sam elbowed her way to their table with a smile as her Jaffa teammate raised a teasingly solemn arm in the midst of the drunken human revelers.

At SG-1's unofficial table she found Cam and Daniel at the booth there as well as Teal'c, and she slipped into her spot, Cam passing her a frosty bottle of Corona with a grin. The others' drinks were still almost full, so she gauged she wasn't late. She could also tell Cam had ordered the appetizers, if the three as-yet-untouched platters of mozzarella sticks, fire chips, and Texas toothpicks were anything to go by.

After greetings had been exchanged, Sam squeezed her lime wedge into the Corona, shoving it down though the bottle neck, and took her first swallow. 

Daniel opened his mouth to speak, then paused to watch in fascinated distaste as Cam, using the cayenne fire chips as base and topping, proceeded to make a mini-sandwich filled with mozzarella sticks and jalapeño toothpicks, proudly bolting it down in one giant bite. "Anyone else want one?" the team leader offered around his mouthful. 

"Indeed I do not." Teal'c moved his virgin piña colada away, umbrella and all, as if fearing corruption by mere proximity.

"No thanks, Mitchell," Daniel seconded, his tone gently teasing rather than scathingly impatient as it often had been in the past.

Sam only rolled her eyes before taking another swig of beer. Setting it down with a sigh of appreciation, Sam turned expectant eyes on Daniel. "So, Daniel, what's the occasion?" she asked.

Daniel hadn't touched his beloved Köstritzer Schwarzbier lager, the brand that Jack had dismissed as 'German black-beer piss' on one memorable evening years ago. Now, at Sam's prompting, Daniel dropped his gaze, running a finger along one of the many scars that marred the restaurant tabletop and said, "So. Yeah." As if filled with nervous energy, he picked up the beer, took a sip, and put it back down immediately. "Um, not to be too clichéd, but I've called you all here for a purpose."

Sam couldn't quite stop a chuckle at his dramatics. "Aren't we waiting for Vala?" she asked.

"No. No, um, she–she's going to join us later. After, um... You know." He waved a hand in a gesture that meant nothing to his teammates.

Sam exchanged a mystified glance with Cam and Teal'c. "No, Daniel, not really," she said.

Picking up the lager again, Daniel gulped down a couple almost panicky swallows. 

He was so cute when he got nervous, Sam thought with a smile hidden by her bottle. It had been so long since she'd seen this side of him. Sam supposed she had Vala to thank for that, although she wondered how serious the mercurial woman really was. But what could Daniel be so nervous about? The team already knew and accepted the relationship between the linguist and the ex-pirate, becoming even more comfortable after the couple proved themselves on P7H-405.

Uncertainty suddenly shot through her. This couldn't be a marriage announcement, could it? 

Almost immediately Sam wondered at herself, at her instinctive opposition to a marriage between her two friends, old and new. Did she not trust Vala? Or did she fear the disruption to the team?

Cam aimed his own mystified look at Daniel. "Vala'll join us after what, Jackson?"

"After...well, after our drinks and appetizers," Daniel specified with forced briskness, gesturing at the platters and beer in exaggerated reference, picking up a mozzarella stick for good measure. "After...we talk. About stuff. Over drinks and appetizers."

Cam rolled his eyes, taking a swig of his own Corona. "C'mon, Jackson. Just spit it out. You're about to have kittens, you'll never be able to eat like this."

Daniel gave him a completely unconvincing look of wide-eyed ingenuousness. "Like what?" he asked defensively, taking a bite of the greasy cheese stick Sam knew he hated. He winced and chewed with effort.

More eye rolling from Cam. He plucked the leftover cheese out of Daniel's hand and ate it himself, placing the sputtering linguist's beer bottle firmly in his hand. "Drink up and spit it out. The words, that is, not the mozzarella."

Daniel swallowed the cheese, nodded, and gulped down half his lager in one shot. 

Sam was more curious now than ever. It couldn't be a marriage announcement, she decided. There'd be no reason for Vala to come later.

"Okay," Daniel began, taking a deep breath. "Well, first I'd like to say thank you to you all." He looked his teammates seriously in their eyes. "When Vala and I told you we were in a relationship you could have kicked us off the team. I'm grateful you gave us a chance and I hope you haven't regretted it."

This ended almost as a question and all three of his teammates murmured their assurances.

"Okay," he repeated. "Um, well, our relationship, Vala's and mine, it's changed a little bit. We..." He ducked his head. "Well, we..." He looked up, an incredulous smile blossoming on his face. "We're in love."

Cam grinned, while Sam and Teal'c's smiles were a bit more restrained. Sam just wasn't sure where Daniel was going with this. "You, uh, you weren't in love before?" she asked.

"The sex kind of came first," Daniel said with a sly smile. As Cam snorted, Daniel continued, "Actually Vala says she was in love with me, and I know now I was love with her, I just, well, I just didn't recognize it at first."

"Outstanding, Jackson," Cam declared, raising his beer high. "So that's your big news, huh?"

"No, not really. It's related, but–"

Daniel broke off as Cam suddenly sat up straight, horror dawning on his face as he thunked his bottle down. "Aw, crap! You're quitting the team, aren't you!? Damn it, Jackson, I don't care how lovey-dovey you guys are, I don't want to lose you! I told you–!"

"No, no! I'm not quitting."

Cam eyed him suspiciously. "Okay. That's good."

"Not quitting by choice anyway..." Daniel trailed off, looking studiously at the water rings his bottle made on the tabletop in front of him.

"I don't get it," Cam said.

Sam shook her head in confusion. "Daniel? What is it? What do you mean, not by choice?"

"Um, it... Well, I just..." Daniel spun his bottle in place as his teammates waited him out. "There's something about our relationship I'd like to tell you. It, it's not that you really _need_ to know, you don't really, we're not expecting you to do anything. But Vala and I discussed it and we think that it might be best if you guys knew, just in case, so there are no secrets." 

He gave them a sidelong glance, receiving three blank stares in response.

Daniel dropped his eyes to fussily place a cocktail napkin under his wet bottle. "It shouldn't _affect_ anything, I hope it doesn't, but if it were ever to come out unexpectedly, I wouldn't want you guys to be blindsided, so–"

"Jackson!" Cam finally exploded. "What!?"

"Um..." Daniel straightened the now-damp napkin under the bottle, took a deep breath and said, "So, am I right in thinking you all have heard about domination and submission as it relates to sexual practices?"

Sam blinked. She was about to ask what on earth that particular non sequitur had to do with anything when Cam suddenly slammed his palm down on the table, startling her.

" _Fuck me!_ " the team leader all but shouted, staring at Daniel, thunderstruck. There was silence as Cam continued to stare wild-eyed at Daniel, Daniel returning a cautious look, Sam and Teal'c looking back and forth between the two men in incomprehension.

After a long moment Cam found his voice, and asked, "So who's dominant?"

"Um, that would be Vala," Daniel said with firm deliberation.

" _Fuck me!_ " the team leader repeated in amazement.

"What? I don't understand. Daniel, what are you talking about?" Sam demanded.

Overriding her, Cam continued, asking Daniel, "You mean _for real?_ Whips and chains and dungeons?"

Looking faintly amused, Daniel answered steadily, "Well, my house has no dungeon and we've never used _chains_..."

"And whips?"

"Um, it was more of a crop I think." Daniel shrugged.

" _Hole-lee shee-yit!_ " Cam crowed, his Southern drawl coming out in his amazement.

"Wait, wait!" Sam shouted, grabbing at Cam to shut him up, her brain reeling with disbelief as she began to understand. "Wait, a _crop?!_ You mean, you really mean...?"

"Yes," Daniel confirmed. "A Dominant/submissive relationship and all that that entails."

Sam's lips thinned with disapproval. What the hell had that high-handed bitch talked Daniel into?

Vala was a relatively new teammate, but Sam already liked her very much. The alien woman was growing to be like a sister. But Sam had never had a real sister, and her only close female friend had been Janet Fraiser, whose life experiences and military background were so similar to Sam's. Sam didn't always understand Vala, finding her very unpredictable. Except in purely mission-related circumstances, Sam frequently found herself caught off guard by the high-strung woman. After all, Vala was an ex-Goa'uld-host, ex-space-pirate, ex-con-artist, ex-thief... Just how far in the past _were_ all those 'ex's?

Yes, it was great having another woman on the team, but Daniel was like a little brother to Sam and _no one_ messed with Sam's little brother. 

Still grinning incredulously, Cam downed the rest of his beer, immediately signaling the waitress for another round.

Glancing tentatively at Sam, Daniel said, "So, you, uh, you guys don't have to _do_ anything. Like I said, we just felt that you had a right to know. You're the only ones we've told and the only ones we plan to for the time being."

"General O'Neill?" Sam asked tersely. If anyone could talk sense into Daniel, it was Jack O'Neill.

"No, Sam, please." Daniel shook his head. "Not even Jack. This is on a need to know basis and until I can talk to him in person, he doesn't have a need to know. We would appreciate it if we kept this just between all of us here."

"Daniel, I'm not sure about this." Sam leaned back in the booth, folding her arms.

"Okay, fair enough," he stated. "But just so you know, I'm not looking for permission here." Daniel's voice was firm and his blue eyes as shrewd as ever. "That's why I'm telling you without Vala, so you know I'm doing this of my own free will. I love Vala and she loves me. We love each other. I'm not doing anything I don't want to be doing."

Right, Sam thought, you woke up one day and decided to let someone con you, take advantage of you, beat up on you. She glanced at Teal'c, but the Jaffa sat there with an uncharacteristically stunned look on his usually stoic face.

Cam was still grinning with delight, looking like a man whose dearest dreams had all come true on one magical Christmas morning. "Where's Princess at?" he demanded. "Tell her to get in here."

"She's waiting out in the Wagoneer." Daniel pulled his phone out, sent a quick text, and soon enough Vala was wending her way through the restaurant crowd, her sharp grey eyes taking the measure of each of her four teammates. She must have correctly read the blazing suspicion in Sam's eyes because Vala's glance returned and fixed on her even as the alien woman sat, squeezing in close to Daniel.

"To the happy couple!" Cam raised his bottle taking a drink, joined only by Vala who took a pull from Daniel's bottle, her eyes on the silent Sam and Teal'c.

"So, uh, I take it you're okay with this, Mitchell?" Daniel asked.

"You kidding? Hell, you won the jackpot, man! You got me beat cold! I'm lucky to get some once a month. You though, you're probably getting it, what, once a night?"

"Only _once_ a night?" Vala asked mildly, speaking for the first time. "I think you underestimate my Daniel." She stroked a hand on the linguist's shoulder and Daniel blushed, taking his bottle back for a compulsive swig.

"Whoa, both TMI and very impressive," Cam declared. "Got us beat, huh, Teal'c?" He waved a hand at Teal'c, breaking the gesture off with a wince and adding, "Uh, no pun intended. Ouch."

Vala raised an unimpressed brow, but Daniel must have noticed Teal'c had yet to say anything. "Teal'c," he said, "I hate to think I've lost anyone's respect, especially yours, but I am what I am."

Sam watched the Jaffa, hoping that someone else was going to be on her side, but Teal'c stirred himself and gave Daniel a half-bow. "Daniel Jackson, I apologize for not speaking sooner. I was...digesting this news. I did not mean to lead you to believe my respect for you had diminished. It has not."

"So...you're okay with this? Vala and me?"

"The range of sexual interactions is all but infinite. Anyone seeking to limit the voluntary actions of adults is misguided at least, a fool at most. You have my support and good wishes."

Yes, but was it really voluntary, Sam thought.

"Thank you, Teal'c, that means a lot to me."

"Ditto on my part," Cam interjected.

Daniel all but sighed with relief. "You don't... Well, knowing this about me, you don't want me off the team? You don't think less of me?"

"Shit, think less of you? No way! I figure you gotta be the bravest man I know to let Vala have free reign over your ass!"

Daniel looked to Sam, obviously hoping for her blessing as well, but Sam was far from giving that. Sexual experimentation was all very well for some unknown abstract couples, but this was _Daniel._

"How long has this been going on?" Sam asked.

"Almost three months now," Daniel said.

"Ah, the Week of Wonder," Cam remarked with mock-portentousness.

Daniel frowned. "Week of Wonder?"

"The week we were off after the grain warehouse fiasco," Cam specified to Daniel, "and you changed from being..." At a loss for words, the team leader waved his hand suggestively.

"An asshole?" Daniel supplied with raised brows and a self-deprecating smile.

"Into being..."

"Less of an asshole?" Daniel was grinning now.

Cam returned the grin, nodding as he specified, "From being high-maintenance to being...less high-maintenance."

Daniel raised his bottle in appreciation of Cam's careful phrasing.

"We all just assumed your mood improved because you were finally getting some," Cam added.

Daniel winced. "Yes, that was part of it," he admitted. "But I wouldn't have...got some if Vala hadn't insisted, pursued me and showed me there was a better way to live."

"Well, your mood's improved," Cam said. "I should know. I've been on the receiving end of Jackson's tongue."

"Oh no, Cameron, darling," Vala interjected. "I assure you, you haven't."

Cam and Daniel wore matching blushes.

Sam pursed her lips, asking Daniel, "So then Vala, what, offered this arrangement and you consented? Just like that?"

"I was...resistant at first, but Vala...convinced me."

"Oh, to be a fly on the wall..." Cam drawled, gazing innocently into the air.

Resistant? _Convinced?_ Sam, beyond irritated with this, glared at Vala. What exactly had this conniving con-artist done to Sam's little brother? 

Yes, Daniel was happier now than in years, but that was just part of being in love. Or _thinking_ he was in love. He thinks he needs to get beat up just so that someone will love him? Why all this submission stuff? What was Vala's game?

"Exactly how much 'convincing' was involved?" Sam demanded.

"Sam, Vala didn't force me, not like you think," Daniel said softly. "Once I understood what she was offering, it was my decision to continue. Vala didn't even believe me when I first said I loved her, she made us wait two months before she was sure of my feelings."

“Oh my god, that necklace you’ve been wearing, like a–a–”

“A collar, yes,” Daniel confirmed steadily even as his cheeks flamed. “It’s symbolic, Sam. Of course I can take it off anytime I choose.”

"So _everything's_ been your decision? Your choice?" Sam asked in disbelief. The best con-artists got their marks to believe it was all their own decision.

"Um..." Daniel seemed to curl into himself under Sam's disapproval. She hated to see that, but it was for his own good.

"I need to powder my nose," Vala suddenly stated. "Samantha? Join me?"

Sam's eyes narrowed. "Yes, I believe I will." 

The two women grabbed their purses like they were P-90s and stood, the men glancing back and forth worriedly, especially Daniel. No, Sam didn't like being responsible for that look, but she had been watching out for his best interests for years and she didn't intend to stop now.


	44. A Civilized Cat Fight

The moment Sam and Vala marched into the Ladies Room, Sam pointed a finger at the room's sole occupant, a tipsy young woman who stood at the sink washing her hands. 

"You. Out," Sam ordered.

Not even bothering to dry off, the girl scuttled away wide eyed, Sam shoving a garbage can up against the door as it swung shut. Then she rounded on Vala, full of righteous indignation–but didn't get a chance to speak.

"Do you know how much damage I had to repair?" Vala demanded.

Sam felt like the wind had been taken out of her sails. Vala should be on the defensive, damn it. But she rallied, demanding in turn, "What damage? What are you talking about?"

"Your damage, damage you inflicted on Daniel through years of neglect and outright disregard for him and his work."

"How dare you?" Sam hissed. "After hijacking the Prometheus? After that stunt with the bracelets? You cost him Atlantis! Twice!"

"Yes, what I did was wrong, but at least I admit it," Vala stated evenly. "I've tried to make up for it. Have you ever admitted to belittling him and his achievements?"

"What!? I have no idea what you're talking about!" Sam’s shout echoed in the little tiled room but she didn’t give damn at the moment.

Vala arched a brow. "When I first came to the SGC I spoke to quite a few people who seemed to think that a certain lovely and brilliant Captain Carter opened the Stargate. Now why would that be, Samantha?"

Sam flushed, holding a guilty squirm back with an effort. Yes, many people over the years treated her like a rock star, heaping unwanted adulation on her as the astrophysicist who solved the puzzle of the Stargate. It was embarrassing and she always corrected people who approached her directly, but... It was true, she didn't go out of her way to correct any general misconceptions. But...it didn't really matter, right?

She shrugged with a grimace. "People say all sorts of things, it doesn't make it true."

"Words matter, Samantha, did Daniel never tell you that?" Vala demanded. "I may have only been here half a year, but I've heard quite a few stories. I suppose you never took credit for an accomplishment that started out as an idea of Daniel's?"

"Certainly not!"

"But you haven’t always corrected others who thought so." Vala's words were statement, not question.

"Anyone sticking around long enough always found out the true story," Sam claimed stoutly. But it might be true that she relished those admiring glances a little too much. Sam was a proud woman, she never shied away from taking full responsibility for her actions, good or bad. With grudging honestly, she added, "I... It's possible that I haven't always gone out of my way to correct people's misconceptions."

"I've seen for myself that your scientific opinion is valued over Daniel's," Vala said. "No matter how much more insight he may have on a subject."

Sam couldn't stop a nod of reluctant agreement. As a member of the military, she was usually afforded the benefit of the doubt where Daniel always had to beg and plead to be heard.

"It's almost like the two of you have been in a contest for years," Vala observed speculatively.

Vala was right. Sam and Daniel were Jack O'Neill's famous Science Twins and the innocent competition of siblings had devolved into something darker, still lighthearted on the surface, still like siblings, but with a thin thread of hostility underlying it, a fight for approval and recognition. At least on her part if she were honest with herself.

It was a competition where all Sam had to do was posit the barest hypothesis and it would immediately be regarded as fact, everyone would fall over themselves to line up behind her. Reece and the Replicators came to mind, or even their very first argument over whether the Stargate went to other worlds besides Abydos. Meanwhile when Daniel posited a theory it would be subject to not only vigorous analysis but outright derision. No, not everything he'd ever said had turned out to be true, but an impressive percentage, enough that the constant disbelief and questioning couldn't be anything but a slap in the face. Yet Daniel never complained. 

But what did the accumulation of all that doubt do to a man's soul? Especially a sensitive man like Daniel? 

"I know we've had an unofficial competition," Sam admitted. "I've never stopped to think about the toll all that may have taken on Daniel."

"He was always there when you needed him," Vala said. "I know he was, I know him. But were you there for him? Well, I'm here for him now."

"I _am_ here for him!" Sam insisted.

"Yet you ignore him when he needs you."

"I never–!"

"Too busy playing a schoolyard game of will you or won't you with Jack O'Neill?"

Sam flushed again. Damn Vala for bringing that up. She and Jack... It was complicated.

"Too busy playing with your toys in Area 51 to visit him when he needed you."

Sam shook her head speechlessly, Vala's attacks coming in on too many fronts for her to defend.

"When his closest friends, his family, deserted him," Vala specified relentlessly. "You left the SGC, his friend Jack moved across the county, Teal'c left Earth, and, yes, I unintentionally denied him Atlantis with those ridiculous bracelets." Vala shook her head in regret. "I was careless and selfish. But Cameron was the closest thing Daniel had to a friend at the time, and he'd only known him for a few days. A brief visit from O'Neill wasn't enough. Even I realized he was devastated."

Had Daniel complained to Vala about this? Sam opened her mouth to ask but Vala spoke first.

"And before you embarrass yourself by asking such a foolish question, no, Daniel did not tell me any of this."

Sam blushed.

"Under all his frustration, he thinks you walk on water." 

Wrong-footed or not, Sam knew her truest feelings and stated without hesitation, "I love him like a brother."

Vala nodded. "I love him too, Samantha. And my love is not a sporadic thing, a thing I do just when I have time and nothing else is distracting me."

"It's not like that!" Sam denied. "At least...I didn't mean for it to be like that."

"I know, Samantha," Vala said. "Despite your rivalry, I know that's true. I'm grateful of your protectiveness and duty as Daniel's de facto sister."

"I _will_ look after his best interests," Sam insisted.

"That's good," Vala said approvingly. "With Hammond and O'Neill gone, you're the only one with any influence over him. And even with your distractions and rivalries, you've tried to do right by him."

Sam sighed, leaning against a stained sink. "He grew so tough over the years."

"Only on the outside. On the inside he's the same scared little boy who saw his parents die before his eyes."

Sam sized up the intent woman standing before her. "I guess you have more influence over him now than any of us."

"He's given me his trust and I will never knowingly betray it," Vala confirmed, nodding seriously. "I warn you, Samantha, if you withdraw your support from him, if you break his heart, I will break more than that. I will break _you_."

Sam raised a challenging brow. "I could say the same thing to you.

Vala nodded, accepting the censure. "Don't disappoint my Daniel. He needs more than just your grudging acceptance. You mean the world to him. He needs your approval."

Sam sighed, all the fight leaving her. "Vala, I...I'm not sure if I can give it. You're causing him pain? Intentionally? After all the pain he's already been through?"

"Samantha, pain is a very small part of our relationship."

"But it is a part," Sam insisted.

"Occasionally, but less often all the time." Vala paused, considering. "I can't reveal too much, but Daniel seeks someone to surrender to, someone to entrust himself to. I promise you, I gave him every chance to structure our relationship to his own needs. I made us wait to see if it was truly love he felt for me."

"I...I'm still not sure." Sam bit her lip in indecision, glancing over at her own reflection in the cracked and dingy mirror hanging over the sink. 

"Samantha, I'm sure you've seen some exaggerated pictures on your inter-web." Vala gave a sly smile. "Picturing me in leather and spiked heels with a two meter long whip?"

Sam wanted to scowl, but couldn't stop a slight smile. "Something like that."

Vala arched a brow. "I could point out that _you're_ the one dressed for that particular fantasy tonight."

Sam glanced down involuntarily, realizing Vala that was right: the astrophysicist's low cut camisole peeked out from her black leather jacket, unzipped in the warm restaurant. Snug jeans were tucked into tall high-heeled boots of black leather and her gloves hung from a pocket. Vala on the other hand wore a sedate button-down blouse in girlish pink, her long skirt a thick sensible wool. On her feet a pair of fuzzy Ugg boots slouched, bangled with frayed pompoms and not remotely sexy. 

Sam drew an outraged breath to defend herself but Vala raised a forestalling hand with a smile.

"I was teasing, Samantha. Please understand that those stereotypes are just that. Stereotypes. That's not what it's like for us, it's not a game. Daniel needs me. And..." Vala broke off, looking lost and unsure for the first time this evening. "And I need him," she whispered, a look of vulnerable wonder on her face. 

Sam felt the last of her anger melting away and rallied one last time, warning, "I'll be talking to Dr. Lam. I won't give anything away, but if Daniel receives one significant bruise, one unexplained injury, I will shut you down so fast it'll make your head spin."

Sam expected defensive posturing but Vala only smiled approvingly. "I understand. I would expect no less from Daniel's big sister. Deal."

"Okay." Sam deflated a bit but kept a challenging eye on Vala as they shook hands, shoved the garbage can back into place, and exited the Ladies Room, walking in dignified silence past a gaggle of wary women who couldn't have failed to overhear the shouting Sam had just indulged in as they waited their turn in the bathroom.

When they came back to the table, Sam tried a cheerful smile, but Daniel knew her too well, and the worry on his face broke her heart.

"You ladies okay?" Cam asked with entirely unconvincing casualness.

"Yes, our visit to the Ladies Room was quite pleasant," Vala said, her usual brilliant grin a little dim.

"Uh huh. Oh, to be a fly on the wall..."

The five teammates sat in silence as they sipped their drinks, the three men eyeing the women.

"Sam, if you..." Daniel took a breath. "I understand if you don't want me on the team anymore."

"No!" Sam denied immediately. Then she paused, trying to marshal her thoughts, Vala not interjecting, Cam picking up the cue and keeping quiet too. This was up to Sam and Daniel to work out for themselves.

No, Sam thought, she didn't want Daniel off her team, she would always feel safer with him at her side when they went adventuring through the Stargate. That hadn't changed and it would never change. 

Letting her expression relax, Sam leaned over and put one hand to Daniel's arm, letting a true smile out. "Daniel, I _don't_ think less of you. I would never–" She ran her other hand in frustration through her short hair. "That's not it at all. It's just– You mean so much to me, you're family. I was just surprised. But now I've talked to Vala and..."

She paused to gather her thoughts again, needing to get this right. After all Daniel had done and still did, if he needed someone to take care of him and if Vala needed someone to take care of, was that really so much to ask? And if 'taking care of' came in a form Sam couldn't begin to comprehend, well, that still bothered her, but technically it was none of her business.

"I don't think I'll ever really understand, um, the details of your...relationship," she continued, "but they don't matter. What I _do_ understand is that you two love each other and..." She shrugged with a helpless smile. "I won't interfere with that. I'm so happy for you, I really am."

His returning grin of relief was like the sun coming out, Vala joining him with a grateful smile. Then Daniel turned to Vala and the expression on his face had his other three teammates clearing their throats and shooting each other embarrassed smiles. A look so open and vulnerable, the adoration so plain... And Vala's returning look echoing everything back and more, an adoration just as deep but with a steely air of protection.

The two came together in a soft kiss.

It was true, Sam realized, it didn't matter what they did behind closed doors. Vala was good for Daniel, they were good for one another and that's all that mattered in the end.

The kiss went on and on and finally Cam cleared his throat and asked loudly, "So, how about that local sports franchise?" 

When Daniel and Vala broke apart with rueful smirks, Sam raised her beer bottle high, the only thing coming to mind the same clichéd toast Cam had made earlier, but which she now really felt to be true. "To the happy couple," she said sincerely.

After they all drank in sparkling-eyed solemnity, the five members of SG-1settled down to finish their drinks and food in the seamless companionship they knew so well.


	45. The Happy Couple

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is technically the end of the story (actually the original end of the story was after The Kiss in the infirmary, but I decided that was just a stupid place to end it), however, not to worry, epilogue follows!

Vala and Daniel left their teammates behind in O'Malley's playing a game of billiards and, breath fogging in the brisk late winter air, they strolled through the twilit downtown of Colorado Springs, working off the alcohol they'd consumed and simply enjoying the time together.

Following the sounds of music and celebration, they came to a crowded courtyard where an outdoor ice skating rink had been set up for the winter. Recordings of popular songs played over a loudspeaker and bright lights had been set up in the public square, people of all ages skating in circles on the ice. 

"It looks like fun," Vala said, wanting to join in but not sure if she could really stay upright on those thin lethal-looking blades. Nor was she sure about Daniel. Three months ago he would have scoffed in her face... 

"C'mon, let's get some skates," Daniel said, grabbing her hand and pulling her along.

Offering a token protest, Vala said, "But I've never ice skated before!"

"Neither have I," Daniel admitted, aiming an impish grin back at Vala.

Vala returned the grin. "Then let's humiliate ourselves together!"

The next thirty minutes were a blur of laughter and wobbly legs. As expert skaters of all ages spun and pirouetted around them, Daniel and Vala completed several slow and unsteady circuits of the rink, their noses turning red in the nippy air, their hands clutched together for warmth and balance, supporting one another from one precarious moment to the next. 

After they'd changed back into their own shoes and regained what Daniel called their 'land legs,' they ordered some hot chocolate from a catering truck set up beside the rink. 

In one quiet corner of the square under a tree strung with white fairy lights, they pulled a couple cushioned adirondack chairs together, sitting down side by side, snuggling under fleece blankets provided by the rink operators.

They sipped at their drinks in companionable silence for a moment. Vala watched Daniel, enjoying the color the impromptu exercise brought to his cheeks, the way his sharp eyes took in the many people still in the rink, the laughing children and their families, the couples both young and old skating in tandem.

Softly, Vala said, "You never thought you were saving the world for your own happiness and not just others', did you?"

Daniel raised his brows, surprised but not defensive at her insight. "Yeah, I guess not, Vala," he admitted.

"And what do you think now?"

"I guess I get to be happy humiliating myself on an ice skating rink the same as anyone, Vala." The impish smile Vala loved made a reappearance.

"Impertinent," Vala declared without heat, snuggled back in her seat with a sigh. Wiggling her toes in her boots, she said, "Those skates were hard on my feet."

"There's some year-round indoor rinks in Denver if you want to buy your own skates and practice for next winter," Daniel offered.

Vala nodded agreement, thrilled with Daniel's casual reference to a relationship that was there for the long haul. 

He looked again to the crowded rink. "This may be our last chance to see the ice."

"About time." Vala sniffed. "I'm tired of winter. Springtime needs to hurry up.

Daniel glanced up to the overhanging branches with a grin. "Looks like the trees are starting to bud. Even the natural world melts and submits to you, Domme Vala. I never had a chance, did I?"

Vala returned the grin as she sipped her chocolate. "No, you didn't."

"Thank god the big reveal to the team is over. I really..." He took a swallow of his drink, frowning. "I wasn't sure which way they'd go."

"I was, darling," Vala assured him. "Well, I admit to a moment's concern sitting alone in your awful Geep–"

"Jeep."

"Whatever, darling. Regardless, they all love you in their own ways, and like me, they want the best for you."

Daniel ducked his head, trying to hide his pleased smile. "Glad Mitchell was so accepting. I was just getting used to his hero worship."

"Daniel, he might not want a relationship like ours for himself, but his mama raised an open minded boy."

"Teal'c's always been a rock," Daniel observed next, his smile turning reflective as he watched the steam rise and curl from his cup.

Vala nodded in agreement. "Muscles would never turn on a friend for such a frivolous reason as repressive sexual mores."

"Regarding Sam," Daniel began leadingly, brows raised, "is there anything I need to know?"

"No, just girl talk. You were handed off."

"What?"

"Custody of you was passed along from your big sister Sam to me, your Mistress and lover."

Daniel gave her a sidelong frown and pout, then relented with a shy but growing smile. "That's actually...comforting."

"Yes, it is, darling, and you know what else would be comforting?" Vala reached over to take his hand, giving it a squeeze.

"Hmm. Making love?" he questioned with mock uncertainty.

"Hmm," Vala echoed in confirmation. "Let's go home."

Just then Chopin's Funeral March rang from Daniel's pocket. "SGC," he reported, pulling his phone out. 

Vala frowned, disapproving of both Daniel's joking choice of ringtone and the fact of the SGC interfering with her plans. She listened to Daniel's cryptic side of the ensuing short conversation, then he snapped the cell phone shut with a huff. 

"Not a matter of life or death, but they need me back at base in an hour," he announced. 

In this, Vala implicitly trusted his judgment. In the past Daniel would've jumped and run whenever the SGC called, emergency or not, but the base command had had a couple unpleasant surprises since Daniel's Guidance: nowadays Daniel only jumped if _he_ considered it necessary.

Watching one couple on the ice spin together in tight circles, Vala gave a silent sigh. She'd hoped to bring out the playful lively side of Daniel in spite of the serious commitments he struggled under, to let him see that he could still have fun even in the face of his obligations. The spontaneous ice skating was wonderful and a step in the right direction but it looked like the romantic side of tonight would be a wash. Even Vala didn't think she could dream up some worthy 'entertainment' in such a short time span.

"We need to leave now, darling?" Vala asked, resigned to the inevitable.

Daniel took a surprisingly lackadaisical sip of his chocolate. "Let's see," he mused. "Ten minutes to get back to the Jeep, twenty to drive to the Mountain, fifteen to gear up. That gives us fifteen minutes then."

"To do what?" she asked, confused.

"To make love," Daniel answered matter-of-factly.

"To make–? In fifteen–? Where? Not in your horrid Geep!"

"No, here."

" _Here?_ " It wasn't often that Vala was flustered, but she was right now, and Daniel's sly smirk wasn't helping. "How?" she demanded.

"Let me show you." 

Daniel finished off his chocolate and calmly put it down on the ground. Sitting up a little straighter in his chair, he seemed to fiddled with the lay of his blanket, but his hands were out of sight and Vala just heard the muffled sound of a zipper. 

Vala bit her lip as she glanced around, unsure if she should help or hinder what Daniel quite obviously had in mind.

Sly smile still in place Daniel held out an innocent hand out to her. "Come sit on my lap, Vala," he said, not even trying to lower his voice. "I want to show you something."

She couldn't deny him, she just couldn't. If her love for him wasn't enough, if her curiosity wasn't enough, then the sudden excited pounding of blood through her veins was.

With a graceful shimmy of her hips, Vala left her chair and slid under Daniel's blanket, bringing her own blanket along with her, letting the fleecy drapes cover the way Daniel hiked her skirt up as she lowered herself, the way he nudged open the fly of his boxers and tugged the thin obstacle of her panty crotch of one side as she sat. 

Vala stifled her gasp as the blazing heat of Daniel's rock-hard penis met the yielding folds of her womanhood, her clit twitching and throbbing at the fiery touch. In perfect concert, they shifted together, Vala bearing down on the stiff flesh under her, Daniel angling himself, his penis gliding up Vala's wet channel, both of them taking a moment to catch their breath, to calm any outward reactions.

Then Daniel brought their heads together, one arm pointing high, and anyone looking at them would simply see two people cuddled together, enjoying the night sky in quiet contemplation.

Voice a throaty growl in her ear, Daniel said, "There, see that star there?" He pointed at a bright diamond of light just visible above the dark mass of Cheyenne Mountain. His other hand, however, was somewhere else entirely, slipping up under the lace of her panties to probe and circle, prod and tease the stiff little nub of her clit. 

Vala just managed to turn her moan of appreciation into a hum of assent, a sheen of sweat beginning to cover her face despite the chill winter air.

"That's the sun of the system where the Prometheus dropped out of hyperspace a year ago, the day we met." 

"It is?" Vala managed to breath out in surprise. 

The warmth under the blankets building up, Daniel's fingers kept up their maddening rhythm, his manhood thickened within her, spreading wide the lips of her labia, even as Daniel's lips curled in a smile against her ear. "Yes, I looked it up," he murmured. "I wanted to see it, to know where I was..."  

She bore down as subtly as she could, reveling in this moment, this side of him that had been set free, that she had set free. There was nothing tentative or timid, he wasn't her submissive little boy right now. Oh, he would be again, and for many years to come, but right now he was self-confident, impulsive, demanding. Everything she'd hoped to bring out in him.

Breath hot on her skin, his voice a hoarse and shaking whisper, Daniel continued, "I wanted to know where I was the moment that my life truly began. The moment I met you."

And his fingers sped up, his clever fingers that knew her so well, every fold and hidden crevice, every bit of her swollen and throbbing flesh, pinching and squeezing and drawing forth a burst of ecstasy from her, a spark as bright and pure as the starlight that shone down upon them. 

She clenched tight, spasming around him, and Daniel grunted, jerking as he pulsed, spending himself into her with one hard thrust, forcing himself into her physical body even as he had forced himself into her soul. And she welcomed it, welcomed him, every last thick inch of him, arching her neck as her pleasure flared and sparked.

No, it wasn't the best orgasm she had ever had, it was awkward and messy and she had a very uncomfortable walk back to the car ahead of her, but she loved every glorious second of it...

When she could see straight again, when the fairy lights in the budding branches above came back into focus, when the unconcerned and oblivious voices of the people around them registered again, when she could feel Daniel's hammering heartbeat slow and his hot breath cool on her sweaty neck... When her own gasps quieted, she snuggled her head contentedly on his shoulder and sighed.

"I love you, my Daniel."

"And I love you, my Domme."

Vala smiled, turning her head to meet Daniel's lips in a kiss.

-end- [epilogue to follow!]


	46. Epilogue: Team Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> – This epilogue is dedicated to the lovely and talented Greyspell who pushed me to write just a little bit more! Greyspell, I hope it conforms to your expectations at least a little bit!  
> – Warning: The following epilogue contains dangerous levels of fluff. You have been warned.  
> – Additional Warning: Um...I hope Sam hasn’t ended up being too pervy here; it wasn’t intentional. I mean it’s not like I have any control over the things I write...  
> – The song is "The Very Thought of You" by Ray Noble. (Yep, there's a song. Deal with it.)  
> – And the fluff! So much fluff!  
> – The poem at the end is "Ever and Only" by R. Crawford, an Aussie again. (Yep, another poem. No apologies this time, I'm ‘sap-full’ and proud of it!)  
> – Did I mention the fluff?  
> – Thank you again to everyone who's stuck with me, especially those who wrote comments! It's been an interesting and kinky little trip, and I hope you all had as much fun reading as I had writing!

Daniel knew it was the perfect song when he came across it. He just...hadn't quite worked up the courage to play it yet. 

He sat at his baby grand piano, the instrument he had reacquainted himself with over these last three or so months, playing one of Vala's favorites, Beethoven's 'Fur Elise.' But that wasn't the song he was thinking about. 

Across the living room, Vala sat at her loom, working on a new project, the tip of her tongue sticking out from between her lips as she concentrated, the shuttlecock zipping back and forth as her feet pumped the treadle. She'd wanted to try her hand at rug-making and it had taken her hours to set the loom up to produce a 'plush-pile saxony carpet,' whatever that was exactly. She'd said it would be easy on his knees when Daniel knelt, so he was all for it. And the idea that she would go to such trouble for him warmed him through and through.

The house was peaceful right now, the two of them sitting companionably at their tasks, but it was the calm before the storm: Daniel had invited SG-1 over for a team night. Everything was ready, burger patties marinating, veggies chopped and waiting. Sam was bringing a dip, Mitchell chips, Teal'c drinks. 

But it was over an hour before he expected them and right now he might have just enough time, time to show Vala exactly what she meant to him. He sped up through the ending of 'Fur Elise' before his nerve failed.

Daniel didn't have the best singing voice in the world, he certainly was no Nat King Cole, but within his not- _too_ -limited range he wasn't so bad. The last place he has sung in front of anyone was Abydos. Before that, probably a grade school chorus. But Vala wasn't just anyone. She was his love and he wanted to show her that, any way he could. This song he picked out, it was a little bit jazz, a little bit swing, and romantic as all hell.

He shifted nervously on the cushioned piano bench, the bite of the karada ropes running through his crotch barely noticeable anymore. With the fwip-fwoop of Vala's treadle and shuttlecock acting as metronome, he played the song's intro, took a deep breath, and began to sing:

"The very thought of you..."

Surprised, Vala's head shot up, the loom falling into silence, and Daniel's voice died in embarrassment, his hands slowing across in the keyboard. 

A megawatt smile blossomed over Vala's beautiful face and she begged, "Oh, please, Daniel, go on, that's wonderful!"

He ducked with a blush, but steeled his resolve and, raising his head and holding his eyes on hers, began the piece again from the beginning.

"The very thought of you  
and I forget to do,  
the little ordinary things  
that everyone ought to do."

Vala clapped her hands together excitedly, her grey eyes so bright and carefree with pleasure that the years of hardship and tragedy seemed to fall away from her.

"I'm living in a kind of daydream,  
I'm happy as a king.  
And foolish though it may seem  
to me that's everything.

"The mere idea of you,  
the longing here for you.  
You'll never know how slow the moments go  
till I'm near to you."

Now her hands were at her mouth, her eyes softening. Yes, that was his Vala, one moment she was the hard-as-nails Domme, the next an excited schoolgirl, the next a swooning romantic. 

"I see your face in every flower.  
Your eyes in stars above.

"It's just the thought of you,  
the very thought of you,  
my love."

He finished and the last note sounding from the piano hung in the air between them. 

Vala took a deep breath as she blinked back tears. "Thank you, sweetheart. I love you too."

Daniel rose and went to her, leaning down to kiss those tremulous, smiling lips.

o-O-o

Sam cut the engine on her bike, coasting quietly the last couple blocks to Daniel's house, parking the Indian a few houses down, out of sight behind a thick hedge. She removed the casserole dish she had bungee-corded to the pannier and, finger-combing her helmet-hair smooth, considered her next move.

Daniel had called for a team night, unusual enough on its own, but for the first time in forever had made the unheard of offer to host it, inviting the team to his house for the festivities. The get-together was at 1800 hours, about an hour and a quarter from now and Sam had no real reason to be here so early.

Okay, she had a _real_ reason, but Daniel and Vala might not be too pleased. She also had a _fake_ reason, but it wasn't terribly convincing. You see, her oven had broken, real sudden-like, and the Seven Layer Dip she'd so laboriously created (that part was true and she remembered now why she hated to cook so much) would go to waste if it didn't get baked _somewhere_. So, you see, Sam just thought she'd drop by early, you know, to cook the casserole...

 _And_ check out Daniel to see for herself that he was okay.

Sam sighed as she approached Daniel's front yard. No, she had no real reason to still be suspicious of Daniel and Vala's unusual relationship, but she just couldn't let it go. It _could_ be Stockholm Syndrome, it really could. It had only been a couple weeks since Sam had learned what was going on, and if something really _was_ wrong, she didn't want to wait until it was obvious, she wanted to nip the trouble in the bud.

She slowed as she got to the property line. Just knocking wouldn't prove anything. She remembered there were no windows in the front of the house, they could just hide away anything they didn't want her to see, at least anything _Vala_ didn't want her to see. 

Making up her mind at the last second, Sam veered off, skirting the edge of the property before she could change her mind, squeezing alongside the garage. The gate to the back was locked, but a meter and a half fence was no obstacle to a fit field officer in the U.S. Air Force. She refused to think about the fact that sneaking into a friend's backyard was not what her Air Force training was really for. She balanced the casserole dish on top of one fence post, leaving it there for the moment.

She walked quietly around the back of the house through the small but secluded backyard. When she arrived at some large windows and a couple French doors Sam slowed and proceeded cautiously. 

She could hear piano music, thinking at first that it was a recording, then realizing when it stopped then started up again just slightly differently that it couldn't be. She hunkered down and crept along a hedge that butted up against the picture window, peeking carefully through the leaves and branches, finding she had a full view to the living room within. 

No, it definitely was no recording, she saw Daniel at his piano. From what she could see of his upper body, he was shirtless, but wore what looked like some kind of rope-web halter. Vala sat across the room from him on a stool in front of a loom. She seemed to have just stopped her work, gazing over at Daniel who... Holy Hannah, he was singing. His voice was rich and deep and Sam realized she had never heard him sing before. 

It sounded like a romantic old song her parents used to listen to, but she couldn't recall the name. 

Guilt was knocking at Sam's conscience, but she tamped it down, reminding herself that she wasn't here to pry or gossip, but to make sure a beloved friend was truly safe. 

Then Daniel's song ended and he stood up and Sam almost swallowed a leaf in shock.

He was completely nude save for the rope halter thing, and he strode with confidence across the room to Vala. The faint murmur Sam had just heard from Vala sounded like a declaration of love and Daniel cupped the dark-haired woman's face tenderly, pulling her into a bold and deep kiss.

Sam's cheeks burned but she couldn't tear her eyes away. Okay, no, she really didn't like the sort of thing that the rope halter represented, but who wouldn't appreciate the male form set off in all its glory? She still had absolutely no desires in that direction herself, but for the first time thought she might understand, just a little bit.

But while Daniel was gorgeous, he was like a brother to Sam. However, there _was_ another man she knew...a silver-haired man who was a little bit taller, a little bit leaner... 

She cleared her head with an impatient shake, twigs from the hedge tangling in her hair. She was here to observe, not to engage in kinky fantasies. And what she observed was enlightening. With Vala seated and Daniel so aggressive, leaning over her, controlling the kiss, the power of his muscular body quite handily displayed... If anything, _Daniel_ looked like the more dominant of the two right now.

When Daniel released his girlfriend from their kiss, Vala swiveled fully around on her stool, ending up facing toward Sam's hideaway, and Sam belatedly ducked down a little lower in response, jostling the leaves clumsily.

"We still have almost an hour, Vala," Sam could hear Daniel say through the glass, his leading tone making it obvious what he had in mind.

Oh crap. Please, not right here and now! She had to back away–!

"I'm sorry, darling," came Vala's reply, "but I just remembered Samantha said she was coming over early."

Sam froze, squinting through the glass. Double crap. Vala must have seen her when she ducked.

"Crap," Daniel said, unknowingly echoing his hidden teammate.

"Why don't you go get ready?" Vala suggested. "I'll see to things out here."

"Not fair, Vala.” Daniel crossed his arms over his chest, pouting. “I wanted _you_ to take the karada off." Sam realized he was teasing when both he and Vala grinned. 

He apparently referred to the rope halter because Vala hooked a finger through it and tugged him down for a final kiss. "I'll make it up to you tomorrow, darling," she assured him, then, as he muttered, "Promises, promises," she sent him on his way with a gentle swat to the butt, a swat that even Sam could scarcely call more than a pat.

Sam felt guilty for apparently spoiling Daniel's fun, but not for the spying, and when Daniel disappeared from the room and Vala opened the French door, coming out into the yard, Sam stepped out from the hedge, her head held high. Let Vala scream at her all she wanted, Sam's duty to protect her teammate was clear. 

But Vala didn't scream. She merely arched a brow, standing in front of Sam with arms akimbo. Lips twitching in a smirk, she reached up to pick a twig from Sam's hair. "Did you see what you came to see, Samantha?" she asked mildly, flicking the twig away.

Sam scrubbed at her head, a couple leaves flying, then looked at Vala with a combination of exasperation and resignation. "Um, yeah, I guess I did." She couldn't help but be put on the defensive. "I'm sorry, but I–I just had to be sure. I know what you told me at the restaurant the other night, but I guess I needed to see it for myself."

Vala only nodded understandingly. "A man's male friends and relatives are all very well, but his true protectors are his female relations," she observed philosophically. "That's my belief at least. I respect what you've done here today. It's what I would do in the same situation."

"I–what–really?"

"Yes," Vala said firmly.

"Huh." Sam thought about this for a moment, then narrowed her eyes in suspicion at her teammate. "You're supposed to be shouting at me."

"Do you want me to?" Vala inquired politely.

Sam flung her arms up in surrender. "Will you ever do the expected, Vala Mal Doran?" she huffed.

"I'll consider it. The question now, however, is are you satisfied as to Daniel's safety and happiness?"

"I..." Sam took a breath, giving the question serious consideration, gazing around at the neat little yard, the comfortable home she could see through the doorway, to say nothing of the determined woman facing her. Sam needed to settle this now, so it stopped poisoning her outlook. And as underhanded as her little spying escapade was, she truly did feel at ease now. "What I saw through the window just now–um, aside from–you know..." She gestured helplessly, blushing again, Vala's brow rising higher. "Well, interactions like what I saw between the two of you, those can't be counterfeited. So, yes, I am happy to say I'm satisfied."

"You trust me?" Vala pressed.

"Yeah," Sam admitted ruefully. "Yeah, I think so."

"May I have your promise then that you won't be prowling around peeking in my windows anymore?"

Sam couldn't help but grin at the flashing grey eyes that confronted her now. _There_ was the spark of anger she expected. "Yes, Miss Mal Doran, you have my trust, you have my apologies, and you have my promise that I will never invade your privacy again. Or Daniel's."

Vala gave a nod and her easy smile returned as she reached out to Sam, the two women embracing affectionately. 

"Thank you, Samantha," Vala whispered. Pulling away to hold Sam at arm's length, she continued brightly, "Well, let's prepare for a party!"

By the time Daniel emerged from the bedroom, dressed in t-shirt and jeans, Sam and Vala were in the kitchen, putting the retrieved casserole dish into the oven. Sam gave the bemused man an extra-tight hug, Daniel blinking as he looked from her to Vala, but asking no questions. Then the three friends set to work getting everything ready for the evening.

At 1800 on the dot Cam and Teal'c arrived, Cam hamming it up the second Daniel opened the front door to let them in. The team leader held his hand theatrically over his eyes, clutching desperately at his Jaffa teammate as he entered the living room. "Teal'c! Make sure I don't trip over any whips or manacles!"

"There are no such implements here, Colonel Mitchell." The words from Teal'c were stern on the surface, but his good friends could hear the amused and indulgent undertone.

Cam peeked out with one eye. "Wow. Everything looks...normal!"

"Knock it off, Mitchell," Daniel growled, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth despite a glower. He gave his team leader a hard punch to the arm.

"Ow!" Cam clutched his arm dramatically. "Vala!" he yowled in a schoolyard whine. "Your boy-toy hurt me!"

Vala arched a cool brow, hands on hips. "I may decide to hurt you myself."

"No, no! I'll be good!" Cam backed away, hands held up in surrender. 

Once appetizers had been laid out on the dining room table and everyone piled up a plate, they all settled down in front of the fireplace in the living room, sitting cozily in couch and armchairs as the cheery flames warmed them. 

"Everything looks so nice." Sam looked around herself more closely. "New furniture?" she asked, taking a big corn-chip scoopful of her own dip. Hmm, not bad.

"Yeah," Daniel confirmed, swallowing down a cracker loaded with tapenade made by Vala. "Almost all of it."

"Vala made you dump your old bachelor pad junk, huh?" Cam asked.

"No, not really," Daniel said a little evasively. "I–uh, I hadn't actually gotten around to buying anything yet in the first place."

Cam blinked in confusion, pausing with one of the fire-chips that only he would eat halfway to his mouth. "I thought you'd lived here for years."

"Um, yeah," Daniel admitted but didn't elaborate, staring intently at his plate as he stirred a jicama stick through a blob of ranch dressing.

Sam remembered the one and only time she'd been here, the housewarming party after the remodel, the austere house bare and echoing. God, he'd lived with that emptiness for three years on his own? Thank goodness for Vala. "Well, I love it," she assured him. "It's very comfortable."

"It is now." Daniel shared a private look with Vala, the alien woman touching a hand to his arm as they sat side by side on the couch.

Sam cleared her throat as Cam rolled his eyes, glancing over at Teal'c as if to say, Your turn.

The Jaffa eyed something behind Sam, cocking his head and asking, "Is this a weaving machine? Is it yours, Vala Mal Doran?"

He gestured at the loom and Sam turned to look it over curiously. She might not be particularly interested in textiles, but the loom seemed to be an incredible machine.

Vala perked up, waving a baby carrot as she announced proudly, "My Daniel got it for me."

Cam whistled. "That thing's a monster. How much it set you back, Jackson?"

"Um..."

"Oh, was it expensive, Daniel?" Vala asked, as if the question had never occurred to her before. Not surprising considering the alien woman's unfamiliarity with Earthly money. "Was it a thousand dollars?"

"Um, yeah," Daniel agreed vaguely. "Times ten or so."

Cam whistled again. "Ouch."

"Oh," Vala said, unsure. "Is that a lot?"

"Not compared to how much I love you."

Cam stuck a finger down his throat and made loud gagging noises as they kissed.

The only other significant incident came after they'd polished off the burgers Daniel had braved the cold to cook on the back porch using his new propane grill. Cam, after imbibing one or three too many beers, accidentally-on-purpose wandered into the master bedroom, calling out, "Aw, man, everything's normal in here too! Booooring!"

"Get out of my bedroom or I'll punch you again!" Daniel called back, not bothering to get up off the couch where he sat relaxing with an arm around Vala's shoulders.

"I thought it was Vala that swung that way," Cam protested, sticking his head back around the living room entryway.

"For you, I'll make an exception."

Vala twisted to pat her boyfriend on the cheek. "Thank you for taking care of things, my Daniel."

With much eye-rolling on Cam's part the matter was dropped for the rest of the evening. Sam in fact had already peeked in the bedroom and Cam was right, there was nothing out of the ordinary visible. Sam chose to interpret that as a good thing, no major equipment hopefully meant no major injuries.

It was after midnight when Sam left along with Cam and Teal'c, the Jaffa elected to drive both his tipsy human teammates home. Sam, all her fears laid to rest at last, looked back as she waved goodnight, regarding the warm home fondly: the furnishings chosen with care, the loom and piano placed companionably together, the smiling couple that stood at the doorway with hands clasped as they returned the goodbye wave. A home filled with love.

Daniel deserved this, he and Vala both did.

o-O-o

After their guests left, Daniel and Vala retired to their bedroom in a sleepy stupor, pausing barely long enough to brush their teeth, falling tangled together into bed, too tired to do anything more than listen to one another's heartbeat as they lay. 

It had been a wonderful evening, the type of evening Daniel never thought he'd have, never thought he'd deserve, an evening of friends and laughter and joy. An evening he shared with a woman he loved. And who loved him.

There'd be plenty of time for love-making tomorrow, and all the tomorrows thereafter. A slow and easy coupling or a strict rope-bound scene or one of a thousand variations in between. Whatever Vala wanted or Daniel begged for. They had the rest of their lives together. So tonight they simply lay content, entwined together, Vala drifting off in Daniel's arms, Daniel breathing in the scent of her hair, his fingers ghosting over her skin like they still stroked the piano keys.

A feeling of love and peace swelled up within him and he whispered softly,

"Be with me ever and only,  
No other in thought with you;  
Only without me lonely,  
Ever in this way true.

"So will I be yours only,  
Whatever I dream or do,  
Only without you lonely,  
Ever in this way true."

Vala gave a drowsy hum, mumbled "Love you," and snuggled closer. Daniel pressed a soft kiss to her forehead, closed his eyes, and joined her in contented sleep.

-really the end-

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [His Girl - A Domme Vala Side Story](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2722694) by [Greyspell](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Greyspell/pseuds/Greyspell)




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